Collections by Michelle Brown: Recent Episodes
Collections by Michelle Brown
An internet radio show about people living in between the lines, standing boldly in the crosshairs of their intersectionality as they create change.
C. Imani Williams will always be a Detroiter even though she currently resides in Las Vegas. She returns as a guest to talk about her latest book "Seven Years in A Vegas" a follow-up to her book "Rootwork: Triumph Over Trauma" and building safe spaces in Las Vegas' arts community. This queer Black Womanist is a certified creative artist and holisitc wellness life coach. A survivor of child sexual abuse she addresses trauma in both of her boks and using them as well as her life eperience to help others .
Tracee McDaniel is the Founder and Executive Director of Juxtaposed Center for Transformation Inc - an anchoring organization for Trans housing Atlanta Program.. Her talents extend beyond her advocacy for the Transgender community. She is currently working for safe, affordable housing not just for members of the Transgender community but any one in need. She is a talented artist and author having completed a memoir "Transitions - Memoirs of a Transexual Woman" as well as other projects. She un apologetically puts the "T" first. She was recently announced as one of the 2024 Esteem Award Recipients.
Marques Coley was born in Carlsbad, CA but Michigan has been home most of his life. The oldest of four children, he always knew he was different but just didn't know how. His journey to self-discovery began at a young age and has been journaling since he was fourteen. Inspired by his 8th grade teacher, he learned different styles of writing and incorporated it into in his journal. His writing took off and he began to write his feelings. His secrets poured on to the page and he began to feel safe.His book "Being That Kid" is a coming out story, his coming out story but so much more. It's where Marques shares his truth and hopes that by doing so it will start conversations for and about folks who have been that kid.. Now he is speaking at pride celebrations and talking with small groups in hopes of helping others live their authentic lives.
Karen Kendra Holmes has been showing up and making a difference in her community not just as a member of the transgender community but most of her life. Being of service to others is just what she does!When not speaking publicly, Karen continues working with local police departments helping to bring dignity and respect to police interactions with members of the transgender communityShe was recognized twice as "Soldier of the Year" by the State Guard Association of the United States and the Maryland State Guard Association.This Award-Winning Public Servant and Transgender advocate shared her passion for helping others transition and to foster acceptance and support from those around them in a 2018 Tedx Talk.She has been doing volunteer work with the Maryland Defense Force; done volunteer work with the American Red Cross for the National Capital Region and has been volunteering with Community Emergency Response Team in Prince George's County, Maryland.Her latest endeavor "The Butterfly Project" housed in the Prince George's County Memorial library provides resources for Trans and Non-Binary Folks.The Butterfly Project is a dedicated workforce development project at the Fairmount Heights Branch Library specifically for young Black and brown trans women, who are among the most at-risk people in our community. Inspired by the life and work of Karen Holmes, head of the Prince George’s Trans Coalition, the program seeks to ready young women for the job market and connect them with vital, affirming services. No matter your living, earning, or job skills situation, The Butterfly Project fosters a respectful, non-judgmental space to help young women blossom at their own pace in a safe environment
Jay Kaplan has been the staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan's LGBTQ+ Project since its founding in 2001.He has worked on cases including challenging undercover sting operations targeting gay men, fighting Michigan's constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage in 2004, defending the validity of second parent adoptions in Michigan and recently advocating for a transgender high school student to run for prom court. He's been recognized and received multiple awards for his work. Many in the LGBTQ+ and theater community also know Jay as a talented singer, dancer, actor and director. He has appeared in many local productions and recently directed the play "A Raisin In The Sun." He has enjoyed performing since he was a child.He talks about his impressive career fighting for social justice and his love of performing. What's next for Jay? The skies the limit!!
It's been a tough couple of years. COVID, some health issues and life caused us to take a break, go on hiatus, stop the conversations. But Collections by Michelle Brown - Blog Radio is back and ready to bring you the stories of individuals living between the lines, standing boldly in the crosshairs of their intersectionality and creating change, What better way to kick things off than to go back to how it all begin. This is the episode where we spill the tea on Collections by Michelle Brown-Blog Radio. With the help of two listeners and friends we are going to tell it all, well almost all of the history, back stories about the show and yours truly its host. New music, new partnerships, new shows. SO sit back and enjoy the ride!!!!!
Wyatt O'Brian Evans is a Journalist. Author. Radio Personality. Intimate Partner Violence & Abuse (IPV/A) Subject Matter Expert (SME), Advocate and Speaker. Voice-over (V/O) Instructor and Talent is currently celebrating the release of his latest novel “Shattered!” The latest installment in the Nothing Can Tear Us Apart series.
Wyatt is the quintessential Renaissance man. His work has been featured in various print and online media outlets. Wyatt founded and is editor-in-chief of and a writer for Wyattevans.com, a leading online news, features, commentary, and entertainment media outlet for the LGBTQ+ Community and its Allies.As a child, Wyatt wrote poems, short stories—and even a series of comic books! This journey led Wyatt to author the groundbreaking and popular Nothing Can Tear Us Apart (NCTUA) series of novels (Gay/SGL, Male to Male).
You can learn more about Wyatt his books, podcast, events and all about this renaissance man at his website wyattevans.com
Pride in the Pews is reimagining what inclusion looks like in Black churches. Launched in 2020 by Pastor Don Abram, Pride in the Pews collects and shares stories of LGBTQ+ people in the Black Church and includes a group of eight historically Black religious denominations and other Christian groups that primarily minister to African Americans. Like any in the LGBTQ community Pastor Abram found that the church that had loved, raised and reared him turned its back on him when he came out. This experience pushed him to found Pride in the Pews.The organizatio has epanded byond the city of Chicago to communities nationwide.Our guest Calvin Taylor Director of Partnerships and Program of Pride in the Pews, leads workshops in activities about statistics of LGBTQ+ members in Black churches.The organization will be recognized at this year’s Esteem Awards in Chicago on July 1, 2023.
May is Lupus Awareness Month!!Across the planet, people are putting on purple to spread the word about the autoimmune disease. Lupus affects women, especially women of color, most often between the ages of 15 to 44 years old.Symptoms of lupus include extreme fatigue, hair loss, the mylar rash (also called the butterfly rash across the face), joint pain, swelling in hands and feet, and fevers.In the metro-Detroit area individuals living with and their families find support, encouragement and inspiration as Lupus Warriors. Through Lupus Detroit, a non-profit organization founded by Sharon Harris Warriors find more than support, they find family. Lupus Detroit hosts regular support meetings, offers financial support and holds an annual walk and gala each year.Johnetta Smith is not only a member of Lupus Detroit, but she is the surviving parent of not one but two Lupus Warriors - her daughters - who were taken too soon by this disease that still has no cure. This Lupus Warrior Mom continues her daughters’ legacy by spreading awareness about Lupus while supporting the organization .
Deidre McCalla is a singer-songwriter-guitarist. This African American mother, lesbian, feminist has been performing for close to 50 years and been in the forefront of the growing number of Black musicians reconfiguring perceptions of how Black folk do folk.McCalla came of age in the fiery blaze of NYC’s folk heyday. Her first album was released when she was 19 and a student at Vassar College. She is a much beloved performer in both folk and women’s music circles.With five independent albums to her credit McCalla has touched audiences from Maine to Maui. Her most recent release “Endless Grace” was one of the top 10 folk albums of 2022 in Rhythms Magazine and her song “Shoulder to the Wheel” was winner of the 19th Annual International Acoustic Music Awards for Best Folk/Americana/Roots Song.
Renae Taylor is an African American, disabled, nonbinary trans organizer. Born in Tupelo MS her current home base is in Memphis, TN where they are Assistant Program Manager at We Care TN. She uses they and she as pronouns.Renae has been advocating since 2000 traveling around the world on behalf of transgender rights, needs and visibility. They are an HIV prevention Educator and Activist associated with many HIV organizations. They have also participated in the local Black Lives Matter Chapter in Memphis.They are also a National Advisory Board member of positively trans. Renae believes in the right to be Sex Positive and for Reproductive rights that aren’t criminalized and stigmatized.A self-professed social justice aficionado, Renae will be one of the keynote speakers at this year’s Black Trans Advocacy Coalition (BTAC) conference in Dallas Texas April 25th-30th..
Walter Naegle, the surviving partner of the late American Civil Rights leader and the executive director of the Bayard Rustin Fund joins us to talk about the LGBTQ, civil rights and human rights icon.On March 17th we celebrate the birth of LGBTIQ icon, activist Bayard Rustin. Rustin, who died in 1987 at age 75, was an African American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights.One of his most notable contributions to the African American Civil Rights Movement was his planning of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Now popularly associated with Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” speech.In the 1970s and 1980s he worked as a human rights and election monitor for Freedom House and testified on behalf of New York State's Gay Rights Bill.Walter Naegle is the surviving partner of the late American Civil Rights leader and the executive director of the Bayard Rustin Fund, which commemorates Rustin's life, values, and legacy.Many were first introduced to Rustin through the film “Brother Outsider.” Naegle is here today to shed even more light on the life and times of Bayard Rustin including recent publications and a Netflix Documentary to be produced by the Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.
On Saturday February 25th Rethink the Narrative The Esteem Awards presented Artists in the Afternoon – Beyond Publishing. One of the panelist from that event was Tom Logan.Tom Logan is the CEO of Ebanman. EBANMAN showcases the professional lifestyle of mature Black gay/queer men within Business, Travel, Arts & Entertainment, and Community Voice Its curated publication has enlightening articles, engaging commentary, and appealing visual design. He shares his journey to establish Ebanman and the preparation for launching its new website. The Ebanman community evolved from the lack of resources, archetypes, and the media’s skewed portrayal of Black gay men. Logan and his team recognized this vast gap of diversity in the black gay experiencean decided to curate a safe space to provide resources, services and showcase our culture and lifestyle diversity.Understanding there’s a need to develop broader awareness of Black gay identity (the invisible man in the community), educating the world of who we are, defying the stereotypes set by mainstream media Tom is also here to talk about a beautiful coffee table book. Ebanman has curated this book that provides a visible and tangible extension of the brand. It includes 47 beautiful Black and White photos of mostly African American gay men and an ally living there best lives. Ebanman believes there is an incredible opportunity to unify Black gay men who are different but have shared experiences to propel our culture and community forward.
On Saturday February 25th Rethink the Narrative and The Esteem Awards present Artists in the Afternoon – Beyond Publishing.On this broadcast are the phenomenal gentlemen behind this event Author and Publisher, Dr. Derrick Tennial, and the producer/founder of the Esteem Awards, Phil Esteem. This afternoon event highlights written and spoken word, music, art, and more. Panelists in the first group will discuss why representations matters. Dr. Derrick Tennial will moderate the group panel covering everything from tapping your inner artist, how to get published & why representations matters.Panelists include:Ryan Douglass, author, freelance writer, and poet. - Aaron Foley, author, journalist and founding director of the Black Media Initiative -Michelle E. Brown, author, activist, poet, & lecturer - Frederick L. Smith, author/novelist and social justice advocate - Fiona Zeddle, author and fiction novelist - Adam L. McMath, filmmaker, activist, and Executive Director of the Black Alphabet Film FestDuring the second group Tom Logan of EBANMAN will reveal an upcoming Coffee table book focusing on representation in the AFrican American Gay community matters. It will also include a special performance by Tim’m West, poet, author, educator & Executive Director of the LGBTQ Institute at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.Join this virtual event by registering on eventbrite.
Kylar Broadus is a true warrior for equality, civil rights, the LBTQ community in general but especially Transgender individuals from communities of color.This attorney, long-time activist, public speaker, author and professor is a groundbreaking trailblazer who forged the way for many of today’s leaders. Not content to sit on his laurels, Kylar continues his advocacy in New York, Washington DC and across the nation.He was awarded the Trans Trailblazer Award by the LGBT Bar Association of Los Angeles.He was awarded the 2018 Gentleman of Excellence Award. Mastercard in 2018 featured Broadus for Pride Month. He was recognized by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office of King’s County in Brooklyn, New York in 2018 for his contributions to the legal field.In 2017 Liberty Mutual honored him at the GLAAD Awards for his 30 years contribution to the movement.The Advocate recognized Broadus as one of “25 Legal Advocates Fighting for Trans Rights.” He was named to the Out 100 by Out Magazine in 2013.Broadus was the first out transgender American to testify before the United States Senate in favor of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act in 2012. Broadus was given the Pioneer Award at the Trans faith of Color Conference by the Freedom Center of Social Justice. In 2011, he was awarded the Sue J. Hyde Activism Award for Longevity in the Movement at Task Force National Conference on LGBT Equality: Conference Creating Change. He has been featured in Esquire, BlackEnterprise.Com and Diversity, Inc. and numerous other publications.He is founder and director of the Trans People of Color Coalition the only national organization dedication to the civil rights of transgender people of color
Professor Mike Whitty is a futurist and researcher on trends in politics, culture & rebuilding community. He has given seminars on the future of Detroit, human unity, unity and diversity, tolerance and civility.He brings his unique lens to the wins, challenges and potential we face moving forward includingthe need to overcome the extremism of the GOP (even post Trump) do it with positive hope that we can build winning coalitions 2023 & 2024The need for connection between all the groups targeted by the far rightThe role of community building - not only like minded but all our neighbors
Born in Vidalia Georgia, Ericka Blount began pursuing greatness from the start. Her hard work and dedication earned her two full athletic scholarships to Savannah State University for both basketball and volleyball which allowed her to pursue her degrees in biology and chemistry.Blount chose Houston, Texas to begin expanding her reach. It was in Texas that Blount received her vision for her holistic wine company, which she entitled “Blount Wine Therapy”. Much like the creator, this unique wine is “Georgia born, and Texas made”, and using local agricultural products, she creates Artisan wines and honey-based meads that offer health benefits to enhance the social and emotional experience of each consumer and create safe spaces for healing and therapeutic conversations. Blount Wine Therapy has most recently been awarded Wine of Distinction for 2022 by the #1 US News Ranked Black Wine Club and Festival; Black Vines- Oakland, California.Her passion to connect and serve people has been made evident time and time again but is most easily seen in how she continues to serve as a mentor to children and young adults across the country. Blount currently serves as a High School Counselor, in which she has 23 years experience. Blount was nominated for 2 consecutive years for Who’s Who Among America’s Teacher Award. She is a certified Grief Counselor, as well as a Certified Anger Management Specialist. Blount is the Regional Educational & Mental Health Director for the Greater Faith Leadership Conference, and she also has a consulting firm Distinction Management Group partnered with the Center for Innovation at Savannah State University.
Damon Percy is a self-proclaimed author, activist, cultural critic, mentor, poet, publicist and Proud Sexy Nerd is a Detroit original. He received his nickname “Magic” from membership in Detroit’s ballroom community and the name, which captures his personality perfectly, has followed him through life.
Damon attended Cass Technical High School and received his degree in journalism from Wayne State University. However, it wasn’t until he was adopted into his chosen family by LGBTQ Detroit’s founder/executive director Curtis Lipscomb and began writing for KICK magazine that he really began following his passion of telling the stories of the Black LGBTQ+ community. He is now collaborating with LGBTQ Detroit to collect and archive the stories of Detroit’s vibrant African American LGBTQ+ community.
He is also a proud member of Kappa Psi Kappa, Inc. fraternity. Kappa Psi Kappa is a non-profit, non-collegiate, service/social fraternity for "progressive" men of all ethnic backgrounds, cultures, and sexual orientations. “Magic” recently was recognized at the organization’s Konclave 2022 for his membership longevity of 13 years.
He works as a publicist in the Gospel Music Industry and a freelance music journalist online and in print while spreading the magic of unity, family and community wherever he goes.
Organizers of Atlanta’s Black Pride Weekend proudly boasts it is the largest Black pride in the country with day and night parties and over 25 events that are open to all. Taking place over the Labor Day weekend its a great way to close out the summer
Two of the unique events include an LGBTQ+ Food and Wine Festival and a panel discussion “Artists in the Afternoon.”
Tom Logan, CEO of EBANMAN INC, hosts the first food & wine festival shining an international spotlight on the diversity of the LGBTQ influence in food, wine, and the spirits industry. . Ebanman is a lifestyle brand dedicated to enhancing the lives of Black gay men.
Dr. Derrick Tennial, founder and CEO of Rethink the Narrative Media Company, will moderate the panel for “Artists in the Afternoon: Prose, Poetry and More" that will explore cover everything from tapping your inner artist, how to get published and more. Panelists include Tim'm West, Dr, Cedric Bridgeforth,.T'ai Freedom Ford, Latanya Mack and more. REThink the Narrative's mission to be a creative voice that educates, empowers, and entertains communities of color
Planning a road trip to Atlanta for the largest Black pride in the country. There’s something for everyone including these two unique events.
Jeffrey Glen Cross is a Detroit original. Growing up on Detroit’s east side he attended Finney high school then went on to attend Wayne State University where he studied business management and at the International Academy of Design & Technology .One of seven siblings, his most cherished photos are of family.
Jeffrey always had a passion for the arts since childhood but photography wasn’t his first choice until 2002.
Now a published portrait, fashion, wedding and event photographer Jeffrey Cross's work has been featured in national and international magazines. His work has also been featured in a documentary and on reality tv. He has photographed award winning cd covers for a host of musical artists.
Cross has worked in New York, Houston, LA, Nashville, Chicago, London Paris & Amsterdam .
On August 17th his work will be a part of a night of art, music, fashion and more in Downtown Detroit at St. Andrews Hall. RAW Detroit: Unchained!
RAW is a fun and alternative way for creatives to showcase both to their local community and the world at large. It is not your average art show. The mission is to serve independent artists with tools, resources, education and exposure needed to thrive and succeed in their creative careers.
Tarik Daniels is founder and executive director of Austin-based What’s in the Mirror - a social movement committed to bringing suicide and mental health awareness and prevention through art and advocacy in minority communities. As a member of the House of Xclusive Lanvin ballroom family he is Tarik Lanvin, Overall Father Lepore, .
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, he has for the past 9 years called Austin, Texas home. He is the author of “No Bonds So Strong” a coming of age drama about four black queer friends growing up in Detroit.
Tarik Daniels was the recipient of this year’s National Future Leader Award.
Scott Ellis began as volunteer just wanting to help organize the great lakes bay area LGBTQIA+ community’s pride events.
Today he is the executive director of the Great Lakes Bay Pride.
Great Lakes Bay Pride (formerly known as Perceptions) is the LGBTQIA+ education, advocacy, networking, and resource organization in Michigan's Great Lakes Bay Region of Bay, Isabella, Midland, and Saginaw counties.
Ellis brings his background in business and communications to the organization to develop its programming including the Harmony Diversity Choir, Tobacco Cessation, and a Transgender group. He also produces the Great Lakes Region Pride Festival celebration.
After two years of Celebrating Pride at Home, this year’s Great Lakes Bay Pride festival, takes place Saturday June 25th. It is the festival’s 20th anniversary. The Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival is FREE to attend and open to all.
You don't have to go into the old record vault and listen to Margaret Whiting's song to have those "Those far away places with the strange-sounding names " call you. Just tune in here and listen to our latest conversation with The Black & Gay (BAG) Collective founder/CEO Mike Henderson and you will hear the call. From national parks to places "Far away over the sea" the road will be calling you!!
Are you ready to recover from winter’s cabin fever, to get out of the house and hit the road? Are you trying to decide how to use those accumulated vacation days and dreaming of faraway places, hanging out with friends, or meeting new friends?
Our friend, adventurer, traveler, and founder/CEO of BAG travel Mike Henderson has some great ideas for your consideration.
From Memorial Day through New Year’s Eve, it’s one adventure after another not just at some National Parks but trips to Mexico, Europe, and beyond.
Whether you’re traveling with BAG travel or on your own, Henderson offers tips to traveling drama free, safely, and making the best of your getaway.
Like the song says "They call me a dreamer. Well maybe I am. But I know that I'm burning to see those Far away places with the strange sounding names. Calling, calling me
We first met at a past Esteem Award in Chicago. Ken Mejia Beal was a guest that year. This year he is receiving the award for Chicago’s Outstanding Service - Male.
Ken is a community organizer and Chair of the DuPage County Democratic Party. As a long-time resident, community activist, and a leader in the financial sector, Ken Mejia-Beal has spent the better part of his life helping others.
A part of the greater Chicago area’s LGBTQ+ community, he was elected chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County in 2021. DuPage County is the second-largest voting sector in Illinois.
He is also an award-winning writer that has written for such publications as “Patriot Not Partisan” and “DemCast”. He has been a guest speaker and cohost on various radio shows. Ken has worked as a community organizer and served on several boards to usher in an era of social equality and healthcare equality for all.
May is Lupus Awareness Month and we are honored to celebrate another Lupus Warrior.
Diagnosed at age 19, Christina Hayes has more than survived her diagnosis but thrived becoming an advocate not only for other Lupus Warriors but for other social justice issues as well.
Now in her 30's this mother advocates for paid sick leave with the Mothering Justice organization which has allowed her to tell her story of navigating employment while dealing with Lupus.
She founded "The Christina Project" to provide inspiration, comfort and care to patients with Lupus and Lupus related conditions that are hospitalized and their families. Love and support during hospital stays are imperative for healing and recovery which brighten the lives of the Lupus Warriors and their family.
She is also active in and a big supporter of Lupus Detroit - A nonprofit dedicated to eliminating lupus as a health problem through advocacy & service - attending monthly support groups, the annual gala, and annual Lupus Walk. She is another amazing LUPUS WARRIOR
It should come as no surprise that young people given life without the possibility of parole sentences have been disproportionately Black and Brown.
James Windell, the author of Sentencing Youth to Life in Prison: Justice Denied is an adjunct faculty member in Criminal Justice, a court clinical psychologist, and has more than 25 years of conducting group therapy with delinquent adolescents.
The Supreme Court decisions in Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana clearly demonstrated that the Court’s view of juveniles evolved over decades to reflect advances in our understanding of the unique characteristics of youth and their involvement in juvenile crimes.
This book, co-written with Kathy Miliken Boyd, analyzes the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court rulings deeming juvenile life without parole sentences to be cruel and unusual punishment. These Court decisions brought about controversy and resistance in the criminal justice field, while at the same time providing hope for those 2,300 people who never thought they had a chance to experience life as an adult outside prison.
By looking in depth at the lives of some of the individuals serving life terms and understanding both the prosecutors who oppose review and resentencing of juvenile lifers and those who are sincerely following the Supreme Court’s guidelines, this book provides a comprehensive understanding of the issues.
Born and raised in New Orleans, LA Dr, Enchante Franklin is a Forensic Social Work Consultant, Community Advocate, and Author. She is dedicated to the art of prose, storytelling, and poetry through the lens of resilience. ´She served five years as a New Orleans Police Officer during and after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
She earned a Bachelor in Social Work from Southern University at New Orleans and received her two Master’s degrees at Southern University in New Orleans. She received her Doctoral degree in Philosophy at the Whitney M. Young Jr., School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University. She did all of this while caring for her mother and grandmother.
She is the author of The Blue Lotus Flower which tells her story of resilience-pushing through the traumas of an impoverished, flooded city, facing childhood pain and community violence in the central city of New Orleans. She is dedicated to the art of prose, storytelling, and poetry through the lens of resilience.
She currently is Assistant Professor of Social Work College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of the Virgin Islands and CEO of EnchantedLinks Consulting Firm LLC., a multi-social services consulting firm.
After the deaths of her Mother and Grandmother, she began thinking about caregiving and life beyond grief. She shares information and tips from her workshops “Giving the Self Love Energy While Caregiving – The Resilient Women of Color”
At the tender age of ten, Mike Henderson first felt the urge to explore. Charting excursions on a city map each weekend got on the bus and explored another section of Los Angeles. On family vacations, he would hike and camp while dreaming of faraway places.
Henderson has traveled to many places nationally and internationally but considers Yosemite National Park not only his most memorable adventure but one of his favorite places. With 20 years as a travel consultant, Henderson is passionate about cultural immersion, outdoor adventures, and historical tours.
As founder of the Black & Gay (BAG) Collective, and CEO of BAG Travel, Henderson curates travel adventures for groups of varying sizes for members of the Black LGBTQ+ community.
With a background in urban planning, he also desires to share how places function - beyond glamourous travel ads.
Attending the annual Creating Change Conference has been a rite of passage for LGBTQ activists for over 30 years, We would come together, share ideas, make new friends, catch up with old friends and even find love. What’s happened to Creating Change in the time of COVID???
Pivoting to a virtual format in 2021, activists, organizers, and newbies were looking forward to coming together in 2022 once again in New Orleans when the omicron variant of the coronavirus begin showing up in communities around the world.
After dealing with the momentary disappointment of having to cancel the in-person conference, the staff went to work reimagining Creating Change and looking forward to 2023 when the conference also include a celebration of The Task Force’s 50th anniversary.
Communications Director Cathy Renna is a veteran of Creating Change. She’s watched the conference grow not just by the number of participants but in the programming, diversity, and inclusion of varying and new voices in the LGBTQ community. Conference Director Danny Linden is the new kid on the block. He joined the staff in 2021 but is not new to conference organizing and planning. He has spent much of the past 31 years as a conference and events specialist.
Cathy and Danny are here to talk about Creating Change 2022, the shift to Creating Change 365 and the big celebration planned for 2023.
“Alabama Grandson began as a series of letters Rev, Cedrick Bridgeforth wrote to his maternal grandmother. Although she died in 1989, Bridgeforth has fond and profound memories of her presence, the aromas in her kitchen, and the life lessons that rolled effortlessly from her tongue.
This story intersperses the lessons taught by his grandmother but learned through the living of his life in search of meaning and purpose through the service of others.
A native of Decatur, Alabama Rev. Cedrick Bridgeforth is an ordained minister, author, educator, executive coach, consultant, public speaker, and the founder of 20/20 Leadership Lessons.
As a child of the South, a Gay African American, an Air Force Veteran, and Ordained Methodist Minister, Bridgeforth had been a master of hiding in plain sight. In 2015 when he nonchalantly acknowledged his life partner during a public Methodist gathering all kinds of drama broke out.
His hope is that by telling his story, others will make connections with their motivations for living and take inventory of spaces and places where they are not being honest about who they are out of fear of rejection, ridicule, or ruin.
Emme Zanotti moved from Michigan’s city on the bay, Bay City, to southeast Michigan stepping out and stepping up as a DE&I specialist, community advocate, and political activist.
After reaching out to Stand For Trans as a resource and to connect with others in the Transgender community she went on to serve as the board treasurer for many years.
She more recently became engaged in politics where her efforts helped flip two key congressional seats in Michigan’s 2018 elections. She currently serves as third vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party’s LGBT&A Caucus. A big leap forward for transgender representation in the heart of progressive politics in Michigan.
She was recognized for her work by making The Race Relations Task Force of Birmingham’s Diversity Honor Roll and her political efforts and rigor helped flip key congressional seats in Michigan’s 2018 elections, resulting in her being honored by the Human Rights Campaign, as the state of Michigan’s sole awardee for political action at their annual equality convention.
Roland Leggett is smart, strategic, politically savvy, and a nationally recognized movement leader
He’s worked as an organizer with the Obama for America campaign, with the Detroit Branch of the ACLU, Equality Michigan, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, and former director of mobility initiatives at MoGo Detroit. He was a regional political director during the Biden campaign and is currently the movement politics director at Michigan United. Roland is also an outspoken LGBT advocate serving on the LGBTQ and Allies Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party.
Through his consultancy firm "Roland Leggett Strategies" he works at building inclusive communities.
The personal is still political and no one knows it better than this community activist and political strategist. He shares his thoughts on why staying engaged from the local to national levels has never been more important!!!
Redistricting. Midterm elections. What we've learned. What's at stake with Redistricting and the 2022 Midterm election. The personal is still political and no one knows it better.
Tracee McDaniel’s personal motto is “Show up and participate for equality.” She was the first trans person to deliver the keynote speech at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration march and rally.
Tracee marched in Washington, DC, and lobbied in support of a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act and increased HIV/AIDS housing.
She published “Transitions-Memoirs of a Transsexual Woman”, which chronicled her unordinary life growing up Trans in the South and then eventually in 1990 escaping to Los Angeles, CA to save her life from a domestically violent intimate partner
relationship. It also details her evolution working in the corporate world by day and then effortlessly transitioning into her performance artist Alter-Ego by night to make ends meet.
She is the Founder and Executive Director of Juxtaposed Center for Transformation which is an advocacy, consulting, and social services referral organization, specifically designed to empower the non-monolithic Trans and Gender Non-Conforming community.
Juxtaposed Center’s vision is to act as a collective body to provide basic, necessary, and fundamental resources to the Trans community. It is also an anchoring organization for Trans Housing Atlanta Program Inc., which provides supportive and emergency housing resources to homeless and marginalized Trans and gender non-conforming people.
Originally from New Jersey Peirrce “Peach” McCoy now calls Delaware home. She is the LGBTQ Chair for the Central Delaware NAACP. She not only has a seat at the table, but she wrote the “menu” personally writing and delivering to the organization guidelines for the committee. I Am Me is more than the name of her non-profit organization.
For Peirrce “Peach” McCoy "I am me!" has been her life statement expressing her commitment to bringing her full self, unapologetically to everything she does and spreading that gospel to other members of Delaware’s LGBTQIA community.
I Am Me was created to combat the continuous discrimination LGBTQIA people face in their personal lives, workplaces, and other social settings that can have detrimental effects on their psyche affecting their financial, mental and physical well-being.
I Am Me Inc. was formed to offer safe social spaces with programs that uplift and unify the LGBTQ community. Through its Seminars, Workshops, Forums and Events I Am Me builds positive relationships between the LGBTQ+ community and its Allies to educate Delaware and end discrimination.
Bayard Rustin was an African American leader in social justice movements for civil rights, nonviolence, and gay rights.
He worked with on the March on Washington in 1941, to press for an end to racial discrimination in employment. He later organized Freedom Rides, and helped to organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Bayard Rustin was gay and, due to criticism over his sexuality, he usually acted as an influential adviser behind the scenes to civil-rights leaders.
As a young activist, cutting my teeth in the civil rights and social justice movements, I did not hear about Bayard Rustin. I felt that I needed to suppress my sexuality in order to be effective in the movement. But then through books, involvement with LGBTQ organizations and the movie “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” I recognized the importance of bringing my full self to everything I was doing to truly create change.
Along the way, I discovered other “Angelic Troublemakers” equally inspired by Rustin’s life and doing the work - one being Robt Seda Schreiber,
From day one the mission and vision of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice along with Robt's commitment and passion have been in sync with my core beliefs touching my spirit.
Steph Turner identifies as a trans-spirit individual who is grounded in her own Native American heritage.
After coming out in 1993 as transgender, she learned firsthand about needs when she was falsely accused and incarcerated for a crime she did not commit. No consideration was given for her gender identity and she was placed in an all-male facility.
Since this experience Steph has felt compelled to transcend political and other divisive activities to deeply connect with all sides to resolve the impacted needs.
After earning degrees in Sociology, Anthropology, Counseling and Public Administration she realized these fields exist to find answers our many needs. She went on to found Anankelogy the disciplined study of need.
In her book “You Need This: Introducing Anankelogy, the Study of Need” she explains how our actions, beliefs, and thinking all occur after our factual needs. She plans two follow-up books on the subject “We Need This: Introducing Anankelogy Principles and Wisdom” followed by “We Need You: Introducing Anankelogical Defunctions and refunctions.”
Kim Ford is one of those people who always has something to say that is informative, inspirational, and transformative changes.
She co-founded Kitchen Table Giving Circle. The non-profit provided philanthropic support to Black/African Descent Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer women-led projects and organizations working to improve the lives of Black/African Descent LBTQ women.
After years working in the non-profit sector, she changed directions starting “Mind Body Balance with Kim” providing health and wellness advocacy as well as transformational life coaching,
When last we spoke it was at the beginning of the pandemic, her business was developing, she was offering classes online and taking classes to expand her practice using her fitness journey to assist and motivate others to find body and soul balance. And then the pandemic hit.
Kim believes each of us moves along our own unique journeys and paths filled with dreams and visions of the lives we want to live. This movement and our interactions with others can help us redefine how we live in community with one another,
She shares how the pandemic has been a time to reset and find our own unique journeys and paths filled with dreams and visions of the lives we want to live.
From sheltering in place, reemerging from quarantine isolation to adopting a pandemic pet it’s a new world, a changing normal and Kim Ford is there for it all!!
As we celebrate and thank our veterans for their service this Veterans Day it is so appropriate that we catch up with past guest and US Air Force Veteran Vanessa Sheridan.
So much has happened since we last spoke with our guest Vanessa Sheridan. She has relocated back to her home in Minneapolis after leaving Chicago’s Center on Halstead where she served as the organization’s Director of Gender Equity and Inclusion.
Despite the limitations caused by the pandemic, this respected author and transgender activist continues to provide public outreach and consulting while offering transgender awareness training services nationally.
She is the author of “The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace.” The first full length, hard covered book on this topic ever released by a mainstream publisher. She has twice been a national Lambda Literary award finalist for her other books on the transgender community.
Vanessa was the first transgender member of the board of directors for the stonewall National Museum and archives.
Nina Kennedy is one of those people that the more you know about her, the more you want to know. Our interview about her book “Practicing For Love: A Memoir” opened the door and today we delve deeper.
Nina is intersectionality – a child of the South raised in the shadow of the legendary Fisk Jubilee choir, an African American prodigy in a white world, classically trained in European greats such as Liszt and Rachmaninoff but able to get down in a hip-hop world, a woman in a “man’s” world, a poet, an author, a filmmaker, a talk show host and so much more.
She’s back to share more about her remarkable life. With three more books in the works this will hardly be our last conversation.
Her Lambda Literary award book “Practicing for Love: A memoir” was published in 2020. “Practice What You Preach” the second book in this memoir trilogy will be available soon
As the season changes from summer to fall, and we transition into the year-end season of giving here’s a playlist of interviews curated from past guests of organizations worthy of your consideration for support with a donation or even as a volunteer.
They can all be found on SoundCloud or Blog Talk Radio on the Collections by Michelle Brown station. So, pop in your ear buds, or put on your headphones and listen to the 100+ interviews. You will be inspired by Guests who have come from across the country representing a variety of topics from vegan advocacy, the arts (Musicians/authors/visual artists), disability rights, politics and all points in between.
Between now and year-end besides bringing you more interviews from new and old friends We are going to highlight some of the amazing organizations we’ve gotten to know over the years.
What would it mean to codify Roe vs Wade? Is it time we stop this fight for reproductive rights and pass a law that would affirm a pregnant person’s right to an abortion without undue interference?
In May, one of nation’s strictest abortion measures, banning procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy was signed into law in Texas and opened the door for almost any private citizen to sue abortion providers and others.
Women across the country raised their voices in protest over this latest attack on their bodies and prepared for the coming battle in the courts to defend Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a constitutional right to the procedure.
With the current number of conservative-leaning justices sitting on the supreme court the possibility that the decision might be overruled is very, very real.
On Sunday, October 24th there will be a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan to protest the recent passing of Senate Bill 8 in Texas and an abortion case being on the upcoming Supreme Court docket.
The rally is being hosted by the Lunar Doula Support Network’s Lunar Doula Collective. The Collective’s mission is to provide compassionate support, free of charge, to individuals experiencing pregnancy loss or termination.
This student organization Has a mission to normalize social discourse surrounding reproductive health working through community education and training to advocate for appropriate sexual and reproductive healthcare.
The Lunar Doula Collective's Ishi Shukla talks about the issue and the rally which takes place on the University of Michigan Diag in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 1-2 PM
How do you go from a casual deck conversation to building an organization that brings support and visibility to the LGBTQIA+ community? How do you plan during a pandemic and host the first-ever PRIDE celebration not in June but in October?
Chris Kipp is a member of Macomb County Pride's board. He takes us on the journey from that conversation on Board chair Pil Gilchrist's deck to building support from local municipalities for recognition of June as PRIDE month. He talks about how buy-in from area businesses meant more than putting up a rainbow sticker but a commitment to being welcoming and inclusive after the celebration ended. With covid, planning the event took many twists and turns but now the community is ready to celebrate beginning October 15-17th with events including a pub crawl, outdoor festival, and closing with a drag brunch.
Macomb County Pride's mission is to create a supportive environment for the LGBTQIA+ community and to be a resource in Macomb County where the dignity of all people is affirmed and respected.
Pamela E. Alexander is no stranger to Collections by Michelle Brown-Blog Radio. Being of service to community is just who she is and something she instills in all everyone she meets.
This Gold Star Mother, honors the life of her son SSGT Vincent J. Bell, supporting other military families and working with her daughter London Bell as part of the Bell Global Justice Institute named in his honor.
She served for many years before retiring as the deputy director of the Ruth Ellis Center serving LGBTQ youth in southeastern Michigan and established the “Kofi House: Center for Lesbian and Queer Women & Girls. Her research on the life and achievements of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray introduced may at the Kofi House to this LGBTQ pioneer in civil rights.
Retirement has not slowed her down one bit. A born and raised in Macomb, MI she is no working to ensure her hometown and county are diverse and inclusive.
Since February 2021 Pamela leads the Northern Macomb County NAACP Branch as president of the chapter. In October 2021 Macomb County will hold its first LGBTQ Pride celebration in downtown Mt. Clemens, MI.
Pamela joins us to talk about all of this and the amazing synchronicity that her commitment to social justice brings to everything she touches.
What happens to a PRIDE celebration deferred?
Deferred by a pandemic that has cancelled or made most of our community interactions virtual?
June was eerily quiet without our celebrations, but our PRIDE didn’t diminish, dry up or go away. We just held on to our rainbow flags, marching shoes and even a little glitter to come roaring back for Ferndale Pride this October.
Julia Music who was first recruited by Craig Covey and Monica Mills to help organize Ferndale Pride, faced the pandemic challenges head on and pivoted to make this fall’s PRIDE celebration memorable as well as safe.
You will still see the vendors, sponsors, great entertainment and be welcomed by many smiling volunteers including the recognition of one long term volunteer.
Most activities will be held outdoors but the doors of Affirmations Community Center will be open with some special events.
Last year was a virtual Pride. This year it’s Pride in October. Next year, plans are underway to return to June which means little rest for the goddess/queen of Ferndale Pride Julia Music.
Her name is Jackie Jones and let her tell you about her experience. Most recently, she was a Junior Account Executive at Van Dyke Horn, a Detroit-based public relations firm. At VDH, she worked on local and state-wide initiatives such as Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency, Marathon Petroleum Company, and the City of Detroit's Strategic Neighborhood Fund.
Previously, she served as a Public Relations Assistant at Bloom Transformation Center, a wellness center focused on mental health awareness, in downtown Detroit. At the center, she worked with its director and CEO, Dr. Rose Moten, on all media strategies, administrative details, and community engagements. Specifically, she developed the center’s annual Sedona retreat, gong meditation events, and Trauma Release Exercises (TRE®) programs.
Additionally, she was a Marketing intern at the Museum of African Art in Culture in Portland, ME, and an editorial intern at DBusiness Magazine, where I copy-edited, reported, and published daily content. At DBusiness, she contributed to On the Move, the Tech and Mobility Newsletter, and DBusiness’ Daily News.
Jackie graduated from Wayne State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
CritterKin is a children's media property that uses stories and project-based learning programs to teach kids social-emotional and core communication skills. It is the brainchild of multimedia storyteller Jena Ball who has 25 years of professional writing and editing experience, 15 years of designing and teaching online courses, 13 years working on immersive learning environments in 3D worlds. Jena has spent 12 years working as the Creative Director for the CritterKin Coalition.
The CritterKin Coalition is a community composed of creative professionals, educators, parents, and community members, businesses, and organizations that understand education is a lived experience extending far beyond the classroom. The mission is to make emotional intelligence (EQ) a priority and help each child discover, develop, and share their unique interests and abilities.
Of all the things learned from working on CritterKin these past 10 years, is that it takes a global community to raise our kids. That community needs to be composed of creative professionals, educators, parents, and the community.
Even before the pandemic many parents were questioning the quality of education especially in public schools. Was the focus on “teaching to the test” failing our children? Were standard lesson plans keeping children from being able to think critically? Were their minds being influenced by media images that limit the ability to be empathetic, compassionate and communicate?
Mary Anne Adams journey began in Mississippi, passed through Michigan but she found her home in Atlanta. She is Federal Housing Commissioner Chair at the East Point housing Authority and President/CEO at The Adams Research Group.
But most importantly she is the Founder and Executive Director of Zami NOBLA – The National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging.
The organization builds a national base of power centering Black lesbians 40+ through service, advocacy, and community-action research while promoting positive aging through a social justice framework.
Although the organization has stopped many of its in-person programs during the pandemic it continues to affirm, empower, and support members by creating new paradigms for conscious and powerful aging with virtual programs including “Slow Your Roll Yoga” the “Zami NOBLA Book Club” a Ukelele Program, and “Purple Thumb Gardening Group.” They’ve hosted virtual events including arts and comedy shows.
Work continues on the rehab of the Biggers House, a house that will provide affordable housing for a lesbian and provides a community garden in the back yard.
The pandemic didn’t stop the work just took it to a whole different level.
The Legacy Project was inspired the first time the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was shown at the National March on Washington for LGBTQ Civil Rights in 1987 to answer the question “Who would remember those who came before us when we were gone?”
Some 34 years later The Legacy Project under the leadership of Executive Director Victor Salvo continues to illuminate and affirm the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people to honor their experiences and accomplishments; to collect and preserve their contributions to world history and culture; to educate and inspire the public and young people, and to assure an inclusive and equitable future.
Some of the activities like the Legacy Wall, a one-of-a-kind, digitally-interactive, traveling exhibit has had to be shelved, tours of the Legacy Walk have resumed with smaller groups and social distancing in place. The Legacy Project Education Initiative was launched in conjunction with partners at Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, and Equality Illinois. It offers a new search portal to help teachers create a classroom experience which meets the requirements of Illinois's new Inclusive Curriculum Law
Linda Brincat is the co-founder of Get Out and Live and Get Out Bike, which goes on biking trips around the area. She is also the moderator of the group Artistic Women’s Entertainment.
Her passion however is singing. She has been singing since her youth. She had a 6th-grade teacher who loved choral music and taught her students to sing in rounds and in harmony. She also sang in both her high school and college choirs. Linda now sings a soprano as in the LGBTQ and Ally choir Sing Out Detroit after singing for many years with the One Voice Chorus. Since its founding, the inclusive chorus, which includes LGBTQ+ singers as well as allies, has become a community mainstay, performing at many Pride events and hosting an annual spring and winter concert.
Sing Out Detroit is a mixed chorus (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) for LGBTQ+ and Allies. They welcome singers with varied musical skills. The chorus fosters community, joy, and fun!
Sing Out Detroit is a member of GALA Choruses, a national organization for LGBTQ+ choruses. It is a 501(c)(3) organization eligible for grants. It is a diverse, inclusive chorus that provides a supportive environment for LGBTQ people and Allies to share the joy of musical performance. The Vision is to uplift and inspire others with our musical performances to bring about positive social change.
Get Out and Live, Get Out and Bike, and Sing Out Detroit all really represent the entire LGBTQ community. Members of the LGBTQ community, allies and friends attend the concerts and the 20-mile bike rides.
Robert Zurenko is a professional artist currently living/working in the Metro-Detroit area. He has multiple degrees in art and has spent his entire career in the creative field, making art, educating people, and trying to make art experiences more accessible for everyone. His passion for nature and harmony drives his work, and he loves connecting the world back to itself through people and art.
He was one of the judges at the 2019 Pontiac Creative Arts Center's Kaleidoscope Exhibit. Zurenko's work revolves around the intersection of ideas embedded in gender identity, sexuality, popular culture, and the context in which they are presented.
In 2020 his mural on a private fence in Hazel Park, MI was featured on the local news for bringing diverse members of the community together. The work on this fence, which glows in the dark, is only one part of a broader perspective he celebrates with every brushstroke and every color blending paint and artistry. He hosts an annual summer camp for trans youth with participants coming from across the country.
Zurenko has participated in many exhibits locally including the Trans Day of Artivism and Gender X Show at Afffimations, the NSO Detroit Man In the City Event, Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Fest, and the Breaking Borders Fine Art Show and Harmony & The Cosmic Connection show at Tangent Gallery.
When not teaching, judging or making art on Canvas, Robert is making personal art as a tattoo artist. Tattoos are a world tradition that have cropped up in every single part of the world from a time. before we could even know it, you know. Zurenko believes it is one of those practices that has a deep history and a wide world history, which is one thing that he loves about it.
Growing up on Detroit’s northwest side C. Imani Williams loved learning about Black culture. Books, cheerleading, softball, and was involved in other community-based activities. While living in Detroit Imani was the first full-time employee of the Ruth Ellis Center. She was a founder of PFLAG Family Reunion — Detroit Chapter and served on the board of Black Pride Society. Her background includes work in Guidance and Counseling, Communications/Journalism, and Creative-Writing. She has written for several publications including Michigan’s Between the Lines Newspaper and a weekly column Queer Voices from an Urban Bush Sista!
Now living in Las Vegas, NV she is determined to live her purpose as a Healing Artist, she has used a combination of Holistic Creative Arts including yoga, meditation, mindfulness, poetry, essays, and jewelry design to empower others Her “Standing on United Love – Soul Project provides a safe space where community members can explore the issues of the day affecting Black communities including Mental illness in Black communities, Healing from Childhood Trauma, Sex On The Table: Decoding Black Sexual Politics, and Queering Black Spaces.
Imani’s work pays homage to the ancestors and elders who paved the way while she works towards a Black art-infused better tomorrow. This is the legacy she wants to leave not just for her community but especially for her children and grandchildren.
Connecticut is home for Edson where he not only lives but makes a difference in his community as Executive Director of the Triangle Community Center. Edson was born in El Salvador but has lived most of his life in Connecticut. Norwalk,
He started with the Center as a volunteer serving on various committees and in different board positions until he landed at the top – serving as board chairperson bringing his professional experience and passion to the organization.
What was supposed to be only an interim term as Executive Director, Edson threw his hat into the ring and made the position became permanent.
Triangle Community Center empowers and advocates for LGBTQ people in Connecticut through programming focused on health, community, and learning. Although housed in Norwalk, the Center services all of Fairfield County and beyond.
The Center provides programs, clinical services, resources and hotlines for members of the LGBTQ community as well as community education and training.
Edson took the reins during the pandemic but has gone in each day to be there for community members. The Center has hosted virtual events, and small in-person activities keeping the community safe and connected.
There have been challenges but also opportunities to learn and grow.
More than just a Center, Edson and the Triangle Community Center staff work to make it a safe, welcoming space and home for Connecticut’s LGBTQ community.
Jennifer Miracle-Best has a passion for helping people to understand the intricacies of sexual and gender identity. Although some of her knowledge came from her studies at Central Michigan University and her experience as a member of CMU’s Office of Gay & Lesbian Programs speakers bureau and the Director of the LGBT Resource Center at The University of Georgia, most of her wisdom came from her personal journey to find her personal truth.
Her time at the University of Georgia, and perhaps even more so, her relationship with her husband, Ethan, has broadened her perspective on gender and caused her to challenge even the most basic, mundane, constructions of gender. It is through these experiences, as well as the experiences of her own gender expression and the assumptions people make about her based on it, that she has arrived at this radical, game-changer idea about how to free the world from gender.
These days she spends her time promoting her book "Divinely Queer: My Journey to Spirituality Through Sexuality" and spreading the good word that despite the messages that our society perpetuates about God and religion, that our queerness is absolutely Divine.
A life-long resident of Wilmington, Delaware, DeShanna Neal is the founder of Intersections of Pride Foundation.
They are the co-organizer and creator of New Castle County's first ever LGBTQ Youth Pride Festival, as well as Delaware's first Drag Queen Story Hour.
But first and foremost, she is a is a Black queer, mother. Her work into advocacy and activism started off on a very accidental foot when her 3-year-old announced, “I am a girl.” Trinity was classified as male at birth based on anatomy but had the internal sense of being female.
She didn’t have to think twice when a therapist asked her if she wanted a happy little girl or a dead little boy. She has been fighting for her daughter ever since, taking on school officials who were uncomfortable with Trinity’s feminine clothing, with family members who accused them of feeding the child’s mental illness, with acquaintances who questioned their parenting. She battled state Medicaid, so Trinity’s puberty blockers were covered. If you mess with this mama bear, you are going to get bit.
Now DeShanna is a nationally known transgender rights champion but she never sought the limelight. Together with Trinity, DeShanna works to change hearts and minds.
Intersections of Pride Foundation works to provide support, resources, and education while also raising awareness to the BIPOC, LGBTQ, Homeless, and other marginalized communities’ intersections.
Jena Ball has traveled the world telling, sharing, and collecting stories along the way. It was clear to her that people are hungry for connection. They need places to meet to comfort, console and encourage one another and tools that allow them to communicate and share ideas effectively. This has driven her endeavors and led to her most recent project, Braided Lives, Braided Lives is designed to find, publish, and "braid" the stories of our lives into a larger narrative.
This multimedia storyteller has used her big picture thinking and artistic skills to develop and execute large-scale projects. She looks for ways to work with those who think outside the box, work collaboratively, and are not afraid to fail forward.
She started a children's media property called CritterKin. Critter Kin used stories and project-based learning to teach kids social-emotional and core communication skills to help each child discover, develop, and share their unique interests and abilities so they can become kind, compassionate, and competent adults.
Her most recent project, Braided Lives. It was clear to Ball that people are hungry for connection. They need places to meet to comfort, console, and encourage one another and tools that allow them to communicate and share ideas effectively. Braided Lives is designed to find, publish, and "braid" the stories of our lives into a larger narrative that offers insights into what it means to be human.
She has lived in California, Japan, Hawaii and now North Carolina telling and collecting stories along the way.
Its hard to believe that it’s been eight years since Kevin Terrell Heard founded the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce. In those eight years, he has grown, stumbled but mostly learned.
In 2017, Kevin was honored as one of Crain’s Detroit Twenty in their 20’s for his work with the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
In 2021 the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers organizations recognized and honored Kevin as a game changer.
The Detroit native was inspired to start the city's Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce after returning from Atanta. Since founding the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce eight years ago, Heard has worked tirelessly to advocate for inclusive business practices while educating businesses on LGBTQ+ certification and business growth.
While Heard is happy to receive recognition for his efforts, he said there's still an incredible amount of work to be done.
Kevin will talk about his work with the LGBT Chamber and why entrepreneurs, businesses, allies and others should support the Chamber not just by attending events and supporting members but by joining the organization as well.
The Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce is currently seeking new board members, Heard explains the qualifications for board membership and explains what it takes to be a Chamber Game Changer.
Ryan O'Donnell is an activist who cares deeply about social and environmental justice. This Chicago native attended Howard University and is an endless well of talent. His wide array of skills makes him tend to enhance anything that he is involved in as he fights for justice including organizing to help refugees and connecting with animal rights and environmental activists.
O’Donnell wants to shine a light on the plight of LGBTQI+ refugees, particularly in The Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
The Kakuma Refugee Camp has always been full of problems: dust storms, high temperatures, poisonous spiders, snakes, and scorpions, outbreaks of malaria, cholera, and other hardships especially if you are LGBTQIA. Many of these refugees fled homophobic and transphobic violence in nearby Uganda but continue to face threats and violence from locals and other refugees for the simple reason that they are LGBTQI.
LGBTQI people in Africa are frequently subject to mob and state-sponsored violence and criminalization. Many are forced to become refugees, and when they flee for their lives and leave behind their homes, expecting to find safety—to get the rights that were denied in their home countries
O’Donnell believes it is important to shine a light on the LGBTQI refugees in Kakuma and reminds us that “Until we are all free, none of us are free.”
He works with "Team Rainbow Kakuma" a coalition of LGBTQI refugees in Kakuma, Kenya. They face constant anti-LGBTQI persecution and violence that UNHCR allows. The Coalition uses democratic principles to organize a network of LGBTQI refugees throughout all of Kakuma to support each other.
Originally from Detroit, Marlon Brown heard the call to “Go West Young Man” and that’s exactly what he did! Brown and his husband Dani Tirrell left Detroit and settled in Seattle.
Marlon began Bessie’s Cakes named in tribute to his grandmother who was known in her family for making delicious signature cakes, pies, and cobblers. After years of continuing to bake cakes and cobblers for family and friends, Marlon was established Bessie’s Cakes to continue the legacy of Bessie Mae Ingram.
His passion however was in social justice specifically in building racial equity. As a certified Equity and Social Justice practitioner, Marlon specializes in leadership coaching, facilitation/training, and organizational development with an emphasis on equity and customer service. Marlon is also very skilled and experienced in “change agent” mentoring, racial caucusing and policy development/implementation. As a partner at Racial Equity Consultants LLC, he creates and advises equity committees/teams and anti-racist curriculum development.
He and Dani may be living in Seattle, but Detroit will always be home. Every Sunday you can join Marlon as he brings a little bit of gospel to the Seattle airwaves on his radio show Church with Mr. B on Hollow Earth Radio
You may know Debbie David as a visible member of metro-Detroit’s transgender community. You may know her from her days at the aahCapella Theater in the NoHo arts district in North Hollywood California. And if you are a Star Trek fan, you know her for her recurring role as Ensign Russell on both The Next Generation and Voyager series. Her career includes performances as a background or extra on a host of television series and movies.
Her path from Shelbyville, Kentucky to New York, Hollywood, and ultimately metro-Detroit, as an actor and trans woman, has been filled with challenges and pain both personally and professionally.
She shares so much -the good, the bad, even the not so pretty - no regrets including some backstories from her days on the movie set and with Star Trek aas Ensign ussell.
Activist, singer, and former actor Debbie David is the National Secretary of the United States Transgender Advocacy. She hosts Dragopolist Television’s Debbie in the D.
Debbie in the D is broadcasting news about this year’s Pride Season activities while working to Aid Trans-Persons and Educate the Public.
As a member of Christ the Good Shepherd's old Catholic church, Debbie videos the little church with the big heart’s weekly services.
This daughter of Indian immigrants, desi diasporic, queer non-binary femme traces her roots across homelands that stretch from Manhattan skylines to New Jersey suburbs and mango trees that grow in India.
Marie comes from a long lineage of storytellers and her creative writing explores the contours of immigrant family life, queer invisibility grief and resilience. Her poem, “Rearranging the Bones” was published in the book “Imanimam: Poets Writing in the Anzalduan Borderlands.”
She shares an unpublished work that she wrote about 20 years ago – “Reflections of the Glass Divide.” Although unpublished this powerful piece has been used in various settings to foster conversation helping others to realize what it is like to walk in the shoes of those often seen as “the other” by the majority culture.
Marie is the Senior Advisor for the CUNY Start program at Bronx Community College in New York. CUNY Start is an intensive program for incoming college students who have earned a high school diploma or GED but need to increase their academic proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics prior to enrollment in college credit classes.
She is passionate about expanding college access for communities of color, first-generation students, LGBTQIA+ individuals, recent immigrants, and undocumented students.
No victims here - A bond of love between father and daughter despite Lupus! Toya Oglesby has had a life saturated with love and support. She saw the effect Lupus can have on individuals and their families as a child. Her father had Lupus and passed away when Toya was twelve. Her sharing her life as a Lupus Warrior is not only a testimony to her personal resilience and strength but also a story of the love between father and daughter.
Lupus is a disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs (autoimmune disease). Inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems — including the joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart, and lungs. No two cases of lupus are exactly alike. Although lupus affects people of all ages, it's most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 45. Lupus is more common in African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. Ninety percent (90%) of people living with lupus are women.
Despite the flare-ups that have affected her life Toya has received her BA in communications from Wayne State University, and her MBA from Northwood University. She currently is the Chief Operations Officer for Express Dumpster Services and has numerous volunteer partnerships. She strives to live a waste-free life by campaigning about environmental awareness and advocacy.
Lupus Detroit is a voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating lupus as a major health problem through education, advocacy, and service. Lupus Warriors provide resources, education, and support for one another.
Because of the pandemic, the organization is not having its two annual fundraisers. Instead, it is holding a raffle. The drawing will take place on June 1st.
To enter Text GIVE to 313-214-2917. You can also make a contribution for the general support of Lupus Detroit by texting to this number.
Instead of trying to say it all in one day, leaders from Michigan’s Transgender community and allies decided to host a six-day free online conference. The hosts of TRANSGENDER DAYS OF EMPOWERMENT will focus on understanding the journey Monday through Friday and on Saturday celebrate a Day of Decision, Declaration, & Doing by taking ownership of our existence and boldly taking one more step forward in our journey of self-actualization and embracing our true selves.
Partnering organizations Transgender Michigan, Inclusive Justice, Sage Metro Detroit, and ACLU Michigan joined with the facilitating organizations – Gender Identity Network Alliance and Transcend the Binary to present the conference.
Nyrobi Willow M'Baku is a member of the Transcend the Binary team she serves as Unity, Outreach, and Advocacy Lead. She will not only talk about her experience as an activist/bridge builder but the conference as well.
Transcend the Binary is BY AND FOR TRANS, NONBINARY, GENDER DIVERSE people. The organization believes that every member of our beautifully vibrant community deserves to self-actualize. The trans-led team provides community care and facilitates healing through social connections.
Markita Moore believes in getting to the heart of the matter with music informed by life so it is no surprise that her spiritual path through music led her to a study of and work with Singing Bowls. She is also an accomplished musician. With her band “Elemental Meanings” she provided vocals and played guitar, trumpet, and tuba.
Singing bowls are bowls used in meditation and to promote relaxation. They produce sounds and vibrations when hit or circled with a mallet. It is an ancient practice used in Tibet and neighboring areas for religious and spiritual ceremonies for centuries.
An alumni of Cass Technical High school, whose graduates include icons like Della Reese, Diana Ross, Lily Tomlin, Alice Coltrain, and many more, she continues her role as Band director at the school where she was once a member of the school band (her dream job). She has also begun a new project around this ancient practice with the Singing Bowls- the Detroit Sound Immersion meditation Project.
.She will not only update us on life as band director but give an explanation of and sample of the sounds from demonstrate these amazing Singing Bowls.Listeners are in for a unique experience beyond an incredible conversation as she plays her crystal singing bowls.
She's an internationally renowned concert pianist, an orchestral conductor, a spoken word artist, award-winning filmmaker, and talk show host and now Nina Gamble Kennedy can add author - Lambda Literary Award-winning author to her list of accomplishments with the publication of her memoir "Practicing for Love: a Memoir."
Born in Nashville, TN, Nina was presented in her first complete piano recital at nine years old. She received her first musical instruction from her parents who were both members of the historic Fisk Jubilee Singers.
After her 1987 New York debut at Lincoln Center, she embarked on her second European tour performing and residing in several European countries. She also served as conducting apprentice with the New York Philharmonic.
Kennedy is the subject of a mini-documentary titled Portrait: An American Concert Pianist, produced for broadcast on PBS.
In 2006, she directed and produced an award-winning feature-length documentary film about her father who was also a concert pianist and had been a director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Her mother was also a concert pianist and piano accompanist for the Singers. Both served as members of the piano faculty at Fisk University.
She is the host of The Noshing with Nina Show, broadcast on MNN, BRIC (Brooklyn Information and Culture Network), and Bronx Network which recently won the 2021 B Free Entertaining Award.
In her memoir “Practicing for Love” Nina tells it all - sharing her life as a child prodigy, and musical genius from growing up in Nashville, TN to performing worldwide as a celebrated concert pianist, orchestral conductor, spoken word artist, filmmaker, TV host and more
Eddie S. Pierce Jr. received his Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree from Chicago State University, home of the world-renowned Gwendolyn Brooks Writing Center. Ten years ago he began Rainbow Room Publishing LLC, not just to provide an outlet for his own books, but to provide a voice for the diverse Black literary community. In addition to producing more titles and pursuing numerous other literary and artistic ventures, Pierce is currently overseeing the company's numerous publishing services and expanding the company's offerings in an effort to provide more opportunities for new authors and professionals in the creative arts.
He is not only the founder and publisher. of Rainbow Room Publishing LLC but also one of the authors. A biblical meaning for his name is unstoppable.and as the publishing house approaches its 10th anniversary. It's safe to say that nothing is stopping him from reaching even higher heights. Although Rainbow Room Publishing is still based in Chicago and he is currently enjoying Texas hospitality in Dallas with his sites on the world.
Erica Monique Evans is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio but now calls Dallas Texas home.
Throughout her career, Monique has obtained industry experience in various financial lines of business
She is an Advisor on the Gender Identity and Expression Advisory Committee, which is part of the PRIDE Enterprise Leadership Team at Wells Fargo.
Monique is also a member of the board of directors for Resource Center (Dallas). She is one of the moderators of “An Intimate Conversation with Women of Color” a panel that gives LGBTQ+ Women of Color & Allies a platform to use their voices.
Monique sees being a Black Trans Woman as the dominating lens with which she sees the world. She has been journaling and writing poetry that has been influenced by the church, community, observations, and as being an African American person in America.
She believes if you are steadfast in who you are it will either draw people to you or push them away.
April is National Poetry Month. Monique will be sharing two of her poems based on her life experiences
Biodun Abudu was born in Rhode Island but comes from a Nigerian background. This entrepreneur, artist, designer, and author currently calls Manhattan home after spending several years in Chicago.
His paintings feature his love of fashion, world culture, music, and his personal influences. Many of his designs reflect his love of Africa as well as other indigenous peoples including the ancient Mayans.
Biodun has a deep appreciation of women whose strengths, resiliencies, and perseverance often go unnoticed. His painting "Peripheries of Womanhood" was inspired by everything that makes a woman from the body movement to the body type to the different layers that make a phenomenal woman.
His books “Tales of My Skin” ad “Stolen Sanity” are both based on true-life stories. They both touch on forbidden topics that are often swept under the rug and are hidden in the dark with the cruel intentions to silence an individual with fear. He has also written two books of poetry “Open Letter from Within” and “Forbidden Scriptures.” "Open Letters from Within" touches on pain, recovery, and love. "Forbidden Scriptures" openly and creatively discusses sex.
Biodun also has a passion for landscape and architectural photography.
Dr. Remolia Simpson has a passion for the welfare of veterans and travel. Both came as a result of her time in the military.
She channels her concern for the welfare of veterans through her nonprofit organization – My Brothers House.
My Brother's House is dedicated to providing safe, supportive housing and counseling services for veterans of the six US Armed Forces branches and their families. With residences in five states and the District of Columbia and additional houses planned, the organization strives to ensure that when our soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines return from serving our country, homelessness is not another battle they must fight.
While in the military and afterward, Dr. Simpson has traveled the world. She sees herself as a global citizen and currently is living and working from the Caribbean island of Grenada. Grenada is an island country located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago. It is known for its spice exports and St. George's University a private medical school and international university.
She encourages others to look beyond geographical boundaries for opportunities and shares how thanks to the magic of the internet she is able to have the best of both worlds – managing and building My Brothers House while enjoying the warmth of her Caribbean community.
It’s a world of endless possibilities open to everyone! Dr. Simpson is living her best life building community wherever she hangs her hat determined to make it a better world.
Even before formally joining the staff of Miracle of Love as outreach coordinator, Mulan Montrese Williams was working with Orlando’s Transgender community. She opened her home as a safe-haven to trans sex workers, offering them condoms, bottled water, clothes, and emotional support. She also provided HIV testing after hours for those who could not make regular office hours at Miracle of Love volunteering for the group by providing outreach on the streets and in clubs.
She founded “Divas in Dialogue” a sisterhood for trans women of color empowering, building, and strengthening each other. “Divas in Dialogue” ensures that the transgender community has a seat at the table not just in the Orlando, FL area and nationwide.
She was recently recognized by the McKenzie Project during Women’s History Month as a trailblazer.
She is the outreach coordinator for Miracle of Love an organization founded by Lowell Stafford in 1991 for the distinct purpose of providing accessible HIV/AIDS prevention programming and supportive assistance to service the multicultural needs of communities in Central Florida.
Whether it is through the non-profit "The Gentlemen's Foundation", their restaurant "Virgil's Gullah Kitchen & Bar" or visibility in the community Juan Smalls with his husband Gee are on a mission to give back to their community. Originally from California in 2007 he drove 32 hours straight and moved to Atlanta. He found an apartment after one month and met his husband a year after moving to Atlanta.
After being laid off from his job Juan decided to focus on building the couple’s company. They started an event planning company, and the first event was the Gentlemen’s Ball in 2011. In the planning of that event, deciding the name, the concept, and the program, they always wanted to attach a nonprofit to it so that we could give back to the community. This evolved into The Gentlemen’s Foundation.
The Gentlemen’s Ball, a gala that has been described as a “second chance prom” awarding youth scholarships and honoring community advocates making contributions to Atlanta’s LGBTQ community.
Recently the couple, opened Virgil’s Gullah Kitchen & Bar, located in downtown College Park just outside Atlanta. Named after Juan’s late father-in-law, Virgil F. Smalls, the chic eatery provides customers with more than signature cocktails and soul food. It is also helping to build community and combat stigma.
Annamaria Salley had a vision in which she saw herself massaging someone in her backyard underneath a cabana with flowing white sheets. The massage table was covered in white sheets. She was wearing all white. She woke up and thought what was that all about. She got up and went to work going about her regular routine. But the dream haunted her.
She had worked as a graphic designer in Manhattan for a publisher and received her master’s degree in that field after moving to Florida. Even a year with back-to-back hurricanes didn’t discourage Annamaria from making her home in Florida. This native New Yorker had come to love the area and warmer temperature while visiting her mother who had moved to Miami.
With the support of other women, especially her mother, that encouraged her to follow her dream and take the leap from graphic design jobs to opening her own massage business she found a school, completed the training, and opened The Black Lotus Spa.
Annamaria has an amazing tribe of women who support, keep her encouraged, make sure she takes time for self-care and have helped her grow her business despite the pandemic.
Known for having “the hands of an angel” by her clients, she provides a transformational health and wellness experience to all who come through the doors of her spa.
Karen Kendra Holmes has been showing up and making a difference in her community not just as a member of the transgender community but most of her life. Being of service to others is just what she does!
When not speaking in person or virtually, Karen continues working with local police departments helping to bring dignity and respect to police interactions with members of the transgender community
She was recognized twice as "Soldier of the Year" by the State Guard Association of the United States and the Maryland State Guard Association.
This Award-Winning Public Servant and Transgender advocate shared her passion for helping others transition and to foster acceptance and support from those around them in a 2018 Tedx Talk.
She has been doing volunteer work with the Maryland Defense Force under the Maryland National Guards with the Chaplain's Unit, and with the Honor Guards. She has also done volunteer work with the American Red Cross for the National Capital Region and the MASS Care for Montgomery County Chapter.
For several years, she has been volunteering with Community Emergency Response Team in Prince George's County, Maryland, and also with the Medical Reserve Corps. When not speaking in person or virtually, Karen continues working with local police departments helping to bring dignity and respect to police interactions with members of the transgender community
Karen was asked to give a 60-second commentary on respecting each other to be broadcast soon by the Ted Talk folks. She said, "Treat others, as you wish to be treated. It's not just a cliche. It's the golden rule in life. I have feelings, a mind and a heart to serve kids and others. I am a human being and wish to be treated as one. Like you would treat your mother, father, children, siblings, and friends, just like you treat them with respect. I want to be treated with respect."
Chadra Pittman is the perfect bridge between our celebration of Black History in February and our celebration of women’s history in March. As a former Public Educator for the NY African Burial Ground Project and Creator of an Ancestral Remembrance ceremony, now in its 10th year, this native of the Bronx, NY has spent the past three decades on the front lines advocating for women, human rights, equity in education and honoring the Africans that the world forgot. She is the Founder & Executive Director of The Sankofa Projects, where she works to preserve the legacy of the African diaspora & 4 E.V.E.R. (End Violence End Rape), an activist organization that seeks to end sexual violence globally while advocating for deaf and LGBTQI inclusion.
From Chuck D, Dr. Carol Anderson to Ta-Nehisi Coates to NASA Pioneer Dr. Katherine G. Johnson, her work spans the full spectrum of the Black intellectual and cultural experience. Lecturing nationally her work has been published widely including in the American Anthropological Association Journal, A Joyous Revolt: Toni Cade Bambara and The Feminist Wire,
In 1991 she began speaking for the dead and has never stopped. Born of Seminole, Choctaw and African bloodlines, Pittman is a Black womanist, intersectional feminist, anthrpologist, social justice warrior and proud mother of two. Pittman proudly serves as the Vice-Chair of ZAMI NOBLA, the National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging
Allener M. Baker-Rogers co-authored with Fasaha Traylor the book “They Carried Us: The Social Impact of Philadelphia’s Black Women Leaders.” The book follows the lives of 95 black women from 17th century Philadelphia to the present. The book is based on historical research of 46 forerunners and interviews with 49 contemporary women.
Cordelia Jennings Atwell is one of the forerunners profiled in the book. Baker- Rogers returns today to give a deeper dive into the impact of one of these forerunners profiled in the book
Jennings Atwell was born in New York to William Jennings, owner of a men’s furnishing store, and Mary MacFarland Jennings, a homemaker. Her family moved to Philadelphia while she was a child. She was an exceptional student and was enrolled at the Institute for Colored Youth at age 13. Following graduation, Jennings-Atwell opened her own school in her mother’s home.
Her school quickly became popular and at one time had thirty African American students. Jennings moved the school to Ohio Street where it was renamed the Ohio Street Unclassified School. The Ohio Street Unclassified School was prominent within Philadelphia’s African American community. In fact, the Institute’s 1865 Board of Manager’s report commended Jennings and her school for having “colored teachers teaching colored students.”
After her marriage to Joseph Atwell, the first African American Episcopal deacon of Virginia, Cordelia went on to establish other schools around the country including in Virginia, Georgia and New York.
Many cultures associate the butterfly with our souls, as a symbol of resurrection, as representing endurance, change, hope, and life. Sandra Epps is all this and more. A survivor of Systemic Lupus (SLE) for which the butterfly rash is often a symptom, Epps has adopted the butterfly as a symbol of her strength, resiliency, and creativity. . Her triumph over Lupus inspired her first self-published children’s book -- Imani Has the Most Exciting Dream!
Epps is an artist and author. She is also the Founder of Sandy’s Land LLC and the Detroit Doll Show. The Detroit Doll Show strives to inspire black and brown girls of all ages to “Love the Skin They’re In.” The charge is to celebrate history, culture, self-love, and diversity with the promotion of dolls of color. It is the largest black doll show of its kind.
Epps also established SHE’S Empowered, (Sisters Helping Encourage Sister) which was an organization created to encourage women to live healthy in mind, body, and spirit and to increase lupus awareness. The Women’s Empowerment Conference BUTTERFLY BASH has been pivotal in providing empowerment from professional speakers, tackling health disparities with black women, intriguing attendees with creative fashions from local designers, and closing out the event with surprise entertainment.
Epps’ story has been featured in the media locally and nationally. She has also been recognized for her work to help women to live their best lives on their own terms.
Pamela E. Alexander is a part of Detroit’s LGBTQ history. She has been active in the metro-Detroit community for years She is a “Gold Star” mother. The retired Deputy Director of the Ruth Ellis Center was instrumental on the founding and Development of the Kofi House: Center for Lesbian and Queer Women and Girls. Her love of Black, Women’s, and LGBTQ history inspired her research in the life and legacy of Pauli Murray.
The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray was an activist for American civil rights and women’s rights. She was a lawyer, poet, author, and first African American Woman Episcopalian priest.“Pauli” Murray was born in Baltimore, MD. She was orphaned when young, and raised mostly by her maternal grandparents in Durham, NC. In 1940, Murray sat in the whites-only section of a bus in Virginia and was arrested for violating state segregation laws. She enrolled in the law school at Howard University, where she also became aware of sexism. She called it "Jane Crow" and published a book by that title.
As a lawyer, Murray argued for civil rights and women's rights.Thurgood Marshall called Murray's 1950 book, States' Laws on Race and Color, the "bible" of the civil rights movement.. In 1966 she was a co-founder of the National Organization of Women (NOW). Ruth Bader Ginsberg named Murray as a co-author of a brief on the 1971 case Reed v. Reed, She became an ordained priest in 1977, among the first generation of women priests.
In addition to her legal and advocacy work, Pauli published two well-reviewed autobiographies and a volume of poetry.
Originally from Burton, Michigan a suburb of Flint, Cheryl Czach now calls Detroit home. She left a successful career in the corporate world to start her own firm Cheryl Czach Coaching and Consulting, LLC providing leadership and personal coaching for individuals and businesses. She has been guiding professionals through their work and life journeys for over twenty years. With the current pandemic, she has expanded her client base to include individuals.
She learned from her parents the importance of building community. Even though she was a stay-at-home mom, Cheryl remembers her mother always taking an active role in building community.
A fan of Oprah Winfrey, she took to heart Winfrey’s words that life whispers to you all the time and encourages others to listen to the whisper before it becomes a roar.
With her election to board president of Affirmations Community Center in Ferndale, MI, Cheryl recognizes she stands on the shoulders of the many incredible women in the LGBTQ community and is committed to continuing their legacy of stewardship. Building community, a place where people feel they belong, is an important part not only of her role at Affirmations but what she tries to share with her clients and all she meets.
Jayla’s Jaunts are the creation of our guest entrepreneur, actress, and author Senyah Haynes. Jayla’s Jaunts is an exciting adventure series about a fun-loving little girl and her whimsical auntie. Together they travel and explore the culture and history of every place they go. The plan is to visit all 50 states and this year Haynes keeps on track with the release of two new books “Agog & Awe in Arkansas” and “Arizona Antics.” Together they travel and explore the culture and history of every place they go. Haynes will be reading from the Jayla’s Jaunts series at Chicago area venues during Black History month
Travel is in Haynes's DNA. As an 18-year-old she traveled to Jamaica and for the first time understood how limited her view had been of the African Diaspora. This realization put her on the course for learning and sharing this with others, especially youth.
She also co-founded Diasporal Discoveries to expose youth to the diversity of the African Diaspora with the goal of connecting them to various cultures both domestic and abroad.
Cathy Renna has been a voice in the LGBTQ+ community for many years working with countless organizations of all sizes to ensure a variety of voices in the LGBTQ+ community are heard.
She worked with the Matthew Shephard foundation for years.
She spent 14 years at GLAAD. She also helped coordinate the coverage of the World Pride celebration in New York City. In 2020 she became th Communications Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. She is not new to the Task Force having worked as a consultant for the Creating Change conferences for many years and as interim Communications Director.
Renna shares how the organization has pivoted to continue to represent the LGBTQ+ during these challenging times not only with the Conference but internally as it prepares for a leadership transition as Kierra Johnson succeeds current Executive Director Rea Carey. it is also preparing for its first virtual conference with Creating Change 2021. The Conference will be held virtually from January 28th – 31st. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Power of You” and features 16 day-long institutes, 48 workshops and caucus session.
The opening keynote address will be delivered by activist and actress Dominique Jackson. The closing address will be by author, Black-feminist and women’s rights activist Adrienne Maire Brown. Performances by Big Freedia “The Queen of Bounce” and Latina comic Sandra Valls are just part of the scheduled entertainment
While many nonprofits are cutting back on services and in some instances closing their doors the Ruth Ellis Center is pushing through the pandemic and expanding services. Executive Director Jerry Peterson shares how the organization has carried on its mission of providing services during the pandemic while pushing forward with new plans.
Today, beyond its main 77 Victor St. location in Highland Park, REC is on its way to hosting four locations across the city. It recently announced three new programs – the REC at Clairmount for long term housing support in Detroit’s north end, and the Rapid Rehousing Project and the Kelly Stough Project. Both the Kelly Stough and Rapid Re-housing, via partnerships with landlords, can provide up to 24 months of rental support at both short-term and intermediate lengths for residents across Detroit and the Metro area.
Although the organization has grown over the years, it remains committed to carrying with it the spirit and legacy of its own namesake - lesbian activist Ruth Ellis. She is very alive in this work and that spirit.
There are no limits to a mother’s love or the lengths she will go to provide a safe loving environment for her children. Roz Gould Keith is an amazing woman, a life-long learner and believer in community. But first and foremost, she is a mother. When her son told her he was transgender in 2013, she’s the first to admit she was clueless but that didn’t last for long.
She began a journey of support, education and advocacy not just for her son but for other transgender youth and their families she met along the way. Roz has embraced the opportunity to be an ally and supporter of the LGBTQ community.
She is the founder and executive director of "Stand WIth Trans." Founded in 2015, Stand with Trans is here for trans youth and their families. The organization’s intention is to be a resource, a source of support, a safe place, and a non-judgmental-all-inclusive organization.
Now an empty-nester, Roz continues her advocacy for transgender youth and their families through Stand for Trans. The mission remains the same- to provide education, advocacy, mentorship, scholarship, empowerment and support to transgender youth and their families- and to provide the tools needed by transgender youth so they are more confident, feel validated and loved as they transition an authentic life.
She returns to tell how Stand With Trans has grown from its beginning to continue to serve trans youth and families.
As Collections by Michelle Brown – Blog Radio enters its 4th year we are taking time to reconnect with old friends who have shared the gift of telling their stories with us by rebroadcasting some of our favorite past interviews that celebrate the strength, inspiration, courage and love of our human spirit.
Sharon Harris is a community jewel, a queen, a friend, and a LUPUS Warrior. Back when we first met in 2017 when this interview was recorded, we had never met, and my knowledge about LUPUS was limited.
A month after graduating from Florida A & M University, she was diagnosed with lupus. When her lupus went into remission she became a flight attendant. Her reasoning was if lupus was going to attack her, it would have to find her on the beaches of Aruba or high above the Eiffel tower. I late 2008 Sharon experienced a lupus flare so great that her doctor told her there was nothing left that he could do. She moved back to her native Detroit.
Following a career with the Lupus Alliance of America Michigan Indiana Affiliate. She went on to found LUPUS Detroit a support and advocacy organization for LUPUS Warriors.
The organization hosts monthly support meetings and pre-2020 has hosted annual events including a brunch/gala and walk to raise funds to provide services for Lupus Warriors. A scholarship fund helps Lupus Warriors return to school.
The organization is primarily volunteer-based with Sharon at the helm raising funds, cheering members on, providing support and encouragement while fighting her own battle against this disease with no known cure.
This is a rebroadcast of an early interview with Sharon Over the years she has introduced us to others who were living and thriving with LUPUS.
Tis the season to share stories, reconnect with old friends, exchange gifts, and break bread! In 2020, due to the physical restraints placed on in-person interactions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our need to reconnect, hug, laugh, and just be together with friends and family seems more intense as we enter this holiday season.
It has been a difficult time, but we will get through this together by celebrating one another and remembering the strength, inspiration, courage, and love that binds us together in good times and bad. During the month of December, we will reconnect with old friends who have shared the gift of telling their stories with us by rebroadcasting some of our favorite past interviews that celebrate the strength, inspiration, courage, and love of our human spirit.
Felix and Paula Sirls are an amazing couple who shared their inspirational journey of love and thriving with HIV. Each had been diagnosed with HIV but rather than give up they found strength in the community to persevere. Along the way they found a love that is deep, boundless, inspiring and rock solid. They have been married for over 20 years are parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. I’m talking relationship goals for everyone.They continue to give back to the community sharing their story and love with all they encounter. During these challenging times, knowing Felix and Paula Sirls reminds me that not only will get through this but gives me strength.
I hope you enjoy this rebroadcast of my conversation with My favorite power couple Felix and Paula Sirls.
It's her birthday and she can rant if she wants to - especially about politics and the 2020 election!!!! But Betty Couvertier's rants are always priceless insights on politics, living on the road, and life in general.
If you are missing those spirited discussions around the table or after that big Thanksgiving dinner, the always outspoken activist is just the cure. She cut her political teeth as an activist and radio host in Georgia.
Since her retirement Betty has been traveling across the southern region in her RV with her dogs meeting and hearing alternative perspectives from folks, she has met along the way. Always keeping an eye on Georgia and national politics, Betty drove 500 miles to make sure her vote was counted.
Always feisty, often provocative, and rarely at a loss for words Betty joins us on her birthday to serve up some knowledge this Thanksgiving Day!!!
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You can also listen to this or past episodes of the show on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher,
Diamond Collier is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. Her family moved to Mississippi where Diamond attended Jackson State University.When she found herself homeless, Diamond accepted an invitation from a friend in Houston for an open couch in their home. Thirteen years later Diamond still calls Houston home.
Diamond has been involved with the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition and Black Transwomen Inc. since the beginning. After a successful career in retail, she brought her skills and talents to Black Transwomen Inc. to serve as the organization’s executive director.She is also the content creator and co-host of Marsha’s Plate. Marsha's Plate is a lively podcast where three friends come together every Thursday to share opinions and perspectives through a black trans folk's lens.
Each year between November 13 – 19, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face. Diamond sees her work as continuing the visibility and issues affecting the Transgender community beyond one week each year and lifting up the community across Texas and around the world.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is Friday November 20, 2020. In 2020 over 30 transgender Americans have been killed. Like in previous years, transgender women of color are disproportionately impacted.
In 1992 James and Grace Lee Boggs brought together a coalition of local and national activists/organizations to work with young people to form a multicultural, intergenerational youth program/movement called DETROIT SUMMER. Our guest is Detroiter, Educator, and Activist Julia Putnam. Today she is the principal of the James & Grace Lee Boggs School in Detroit named after the legendary Detroit activists.
The school offers a Place-Based Education (PBE) program which is committed to school-community partnerships to develop students as citizen-stewards of healthy ecological-social systems. PBE immerses students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities, and experiences, using these as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and other subjects across the curriculum. It emphasizes learning through participation in service projects for the school and the local community, often focused on eco-justice.
Participation in service projects for local community is nothing new to Putnam. She was the first youth Volunteer of DETROIT SUMMER.It was led by James and Grace Lee Boggs along with a coalition of local and national activists and organizations. The experience of working with this broad spectrum of people challenged some of the preconceptions she had picked up as a youngster. DETROIT SUMMER was a family and catalyst to many activities in the rebuilding, redefining and respiriting of Detroit's neighborhoods. The Boggs’ challenge to activists, volunteers, and the community was “What can we be that our children might see?” The legacy lives on at the school in its new home and in Putnam.
Nakia Jones always wanted to be a productive member in her neighborhood and was drawn to a career where she could both “protect and serve”. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio and studied criminal justice at Wilberforce University with the intention of becoming a prosecuting attorney
.In 1999 Officer Jones joined the Highland Hills Police Department and in 2002 she was sworn in as the first African American female officer for the City of Warrensville Heights where she also lived.She held that position as the Senior Response Officer until 2017.
After the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in 2016 she posted a passionate video on Facebook responding to the shootings as a mother, an African American ad a police officer. Little did she know, what she thought was a personal post for friends and family would go viral. Within 24 hours her video had been viewed more than 1.2 million times with nearly 80,000 shares and the views continued to climb. Her video, which lasts more than seven minutes, included calling out any officers who may have racial problems continues to be watched three years later.
Officer Jones talks about the contradictions between living as an African American woman and mother while walking the “Blue” line as a police officer.
Maria Rimarkable Garcia is a Detroit Native currently living in Brooklyn, New York.
Rimarkable is a renaissance woman who redefines the word remix. This DJ, vocalist and producer has rocked crowds on international dance floors for two decades.
Her unique sound becomes ceremony with a witches brew of House and Techno, in a soul, funk and disco cauldron.
She has penned and performed commercial jingles. Her original work was featured in several off-Broadway productions, award winning short films and has been found on fashion runways.
Rimarkable is the creator of “The Alchemy of DJing Learning Workshops” which focus on creatively engage in social justice and empowering women and youth.
The current pandemic has Rimarkable looking at ways to keep bringing the dance floor magic often to a virtual audience.
Through her creative production company “Rimarkable Things” she continues to explore new ways to express the music in her spirit and explore new ways to express not just her creativity but empower others along the way.
Tonight, we are rebroadcasting our conversation with Monica Roberts here on Blog Talk Radio with a special opening tribute!
The world has lost a giant, a queen, an award-winning blogger, a Texas legend, LGBTQ+ advocate, Transgender activist, and a beloved sister/friend, Monica Roberts. She made her transition on October 5th from natural causes. Tributes were held across the country. Her BTAC/BTWI family held a memorial tribute in Dallas. Her Houston, TX hosted the three-day celebration of her life on October 23-25. Her influence was felt across the country in the struggle for not only Transgender Equality and Rights but in the ongoing strruggle for social justice for all.
She was one of the first and repeat guests on Collections by Michelle Brown.
I spoke with Monica not long before her transition. Of course, we talked about politics not just the presidential election but elections across the country. We talked about the vacancy on the Supreme. We talked about the Corona Virus and its devastating effect on Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ communities. We talked about the work before us as community activists leading up to and after the election. And we checked in with one another as friends about life - our health, families, finances. As always, we ended the conversation saying, “Love you, sis!”
For seven years Allener Baker-Rogers worked with her co-author Fasaha Traylor on their book “They Carried Us: The Social Impact of Philadelphia’s Black Women Leaders.”
The book is an informative and inspirational collection of compelling narratives and powerful photographs that capture the extraordinary lives of well-known and obscure historical and contemporary African-American women in Philadelphia. The women who are focused on in the book are divided into nine sections ranging from Community Building and Movement Activism to The Art of the Beautiful from Underground Railroad Conductor Harriet Tubman to Filmmaker Maori Karmael Holmes.
Baker-Rogers was born and raised in West Philadelphia. She is a lifelong educator and holds a doctorate in higher education leadership. A former university administrator and assistant professor of educational research she now resides in Virginia. Known as Sissy by her friends and colleagues, Baker-Rogers is also a pas recipient of the Jane S. Abrams and Cecil B. Moore Community Service Awards.
Dr. Retzloff teaches LGBTQ studies and U.S. history at Michigan State University. The Tim Retzloff oral history interviews (1993-2012) consist of over eighty oral histories conducted by Retzloff with members of Detroit's LGBTQ community. In 2018 we sat down with LGBTQ historian Tim Retzloff to talk about his research on Michigan’s LGBTQ+ History. H returns to update us on his work as we celebate LGBTQ History month
His work chronicling the lives of the LGBTQ+ community continues with the addition of his website Michigan LGBTQ Remembers. The site was launched in March of 2017. It is dedicated to documenting the diverse lives of LGBTQ Michiganders and their allies who are no longer with us.The individuals on the website were leaders, activists, and volunteers. Some were bar owners or employees, customers, or entertainers. Some were elders, and some were still in their youth. All were ordinary people who were members of the LGBTQ community who went about their everyday lives. The website posts their obituaries and has even written obituaries for some members of the community who had no one to celebrate their life with a remembrance upon their passing.
In his blog “Queer Remembering” Dr. Retzloff offers advice for members of the community looking for an archival home for their records and other thoughts on comings and goings in the LBTQ community
Originally from Puerto Rico Bonsai Bermudez has a bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Dance and has worked professionally as a ballet/modern dancer and actor. Bonsai became a part of Ballet Teatro de Puerto Rico, Conservatory of Ballet Concierto, Broadway Dance Center, Traveling Theatre of Puerto Rico, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, among others.
He completed a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Puerto Rico with a concentration on LGBTQ issues. He has been working in the social justice-service field for over 20 years - focusing on trauma, transformative justice, and harm reduction practices.
He joined to Board of Chicago’s Orgullo en Accion in 2010 to politically advocate for the Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Community. He spent five years at the Broadway Youth Center, a Chicago program that serves LGBTQ youth experiencing housing instability or homelessness, as the Drop-In and Resource Advocacy Manager.
Bermudez is Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Chicago’s Youth Empowerment Performance Project. YEPP is a program for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness to explore their history, investigate new ways to address their struggles, and celebrate their strengths throughout the process of developing a theatrical performance piece.
Bonsai also serves as a consultant to different organizations and collectives around the country that are working to incorporate trauma informed, harm reduction, and art-healing practices into their programs, policies, and institutional work. He is quadrilingual (Spanish, English, French and Sign Language) with a strong interest in multicultural issues.
After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Political Science, Sydney Baloue pursued public policy research as a German Academic Exchange Scholar and Transatlantic Fellow in Berlin, Germany before completing a dual-degree masters in Urban Policy at the Paris Institute for Political Studies and the London School of Economics.
This amateur boxer/trainer, ballroom historian, writer, and advocate for racial, social, and gender justice, also advocates for trans-masculine visibility in voguing, in boxing, and in the film and television industry.
Sydney is a proud member of the House of Xtravaganza. He made history in 2019 as the first transgender man to win a voguing category (Old Way Performance) at The Latex Ball.
After writing an op-ed in the New York Times he was tapped to be a writer and producer on the HBO Max show “Legendary.” He advocates for trans-masculine visibility in voguing, in boxing, and in the film and television industry,
Besides working on his book chronicling the history and evolution of New York City’s Ballroom Scene, Baloue is rewriting his original pilot, which reached the Second Round of The 2018 Black List/Macro’s Episodic Lab Competition.
Sydney is grateful for his global experiences as they have allowed him to connect stories across continents and have many of his own assumptions about the world blown apart.
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan is the author of the short story collection, Blue Talk and Love. This proud Harlem native holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from Temple University, and a B.A. in Afro-American Studies from Smith College.
She is Assistant Professor of English at Bryn Mawr College, where she teaches courses in African American poetry and poetics, black feminist literature, and creative writing.
Sullivan has a way with words. She beautifully weaves words together, telling the vivid stories of the characters in Blue Talk and Love. These eclectic characters come to life, bringing feelings of nostalgia, comfort, and connectedness.
In her fiction, she explores the intellectual, emotional, and bodily lives of young black women through voice, music, and hip-hop inflected magical realist techniques. Her short stories have appeared in several journals and periodicals.
She is the winner of several awards including the Charles Johnson Fiction Award, the James Baldwin Memorial Playwriting Award, and honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, among others.
Calling from Mumbai India, Vaishnavi Mahant MacDonald shares her thoughts about life, spirituality, her relationship with God in context with her life as an Indian film and TV actress.
Her first acting role was as a child when she had a small role in her uncle’s horror film. But acting wasn’t her first choice, Vaishnavi wanted to be a scientist but life had different plans
Six years later she returned to acting to help her mother support the family after her parents divorced. From 1998 to 2005, she played the female lead in a superhero series. The show, as well as her character, got high acclaim and was considered her breakthrough role. When her journalist character was written out of the series, fan protests prompted the producers to bring her back. She went on to play leading roles in several movies.
She has been nominated for and won awards for her acting and recently directed her first short film.
Her website VAISHNAVI REINVENTED brings a unique Holistic experience designed to enhance Spiritual, Emotional, Intellectual growth and promote participatory engagement in all aspects of life including an Actor's Preparation, Beauty, Health, and Wellness.
As if her plate wasn’t already full enough, she recently wrote her first book “The invisible hand of God” scheduled for release on October 1, 2020.
Originally from Detroit, this brother has lived all over the world. He speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. He is one of five openly gay Imams in the world.
His parents supported him, his six older brothers, his younger sister, and his oldest step-sister from his father's first marriage to find religion despite his parent's Southern Baptist beliefs When he was 8 years old, he visited a Synagogue, a Hindu temple, and an assortment of Christian denominations. None of these religions he had explored fit him exactly, so he continued to search for a religion he could put his faith into. He converted to Islam at age 30.
He is the Executive Director of the MECCA Institute, a non-profit organization, focusing on Women, the LGBTQ community, and Youth through its online school, which prepares Muslim scholars for leadership positions and through its think tank,
Thoughtful, world wise even funny its an honor to call him friend.
Reg Flowers is an artist, activist and educator, whose work is rooted in ancient shamanic, African trickster, and Brazilian Joker traditions. They use Theater of the Oppressed, Art of Hosting, Navajo Peacemaking, and other anti-oppression techniques, as the foundation of their theater-making, mediation, problem-solving, and group healing practices.
Reg began their career as a theater artist, on and off-Broadway. They are the founder of Award-winning Falconworks Theater Company in Red Hook, Brooklyn, which uses popular theater to build capacities for civic engagement and social change. They have received broad recognition, numerous awards, and citations for their community service. They are a faculty member at Pace University and a company member of Shakespeare in Detroit.
Listening to Reg, one word that comes to mind is magic. Reg’s recounting of their experiences from childhood to the present day really captures what it means to be deeply connected to flow and intuition. Reg has always embraced play and imagination as a form of magic — gathering their school peers to put on a play in elementary school to producing their own plays on the big stage as an adult. Magic for Reg is also about connecting with the ancestors and embarking on their healing journey.
Reg who also blogs as Notorious PINK, now has a home in Detroit and works with the Allied Media Project. They still have their Brooklyn roots but has found a space where their work in theater and as an artist, activist, educator and shaman can flourish on Detroit's eastside.
Verlena Johnson was born in Chicago and grew up in Madison and Beloit Wisconsin but now calls California home.
She is a multimedia artist whose artwork includes drawing, painting, sculpture, puppetry, performance and video. Her art is often figurative and conveys a narrative. exploring racial and gender identity—how they are constructed, their social/cultural/political meaning, and her relationship to them.
She shares her journey in expressing art from the political to the personal. Especially interesting is how she brings her energy work, her spirituality into her art. Various symbols that appear in mysticism, e.g., halos, spirals, and birds appear in much of her work.
Halos are depicted in many of the pieces and symbolize the subject’s divinity (her belief is that we are all divine). While halos often have religious origins, for Verlena they represent a figure’s life force or the energy That Moves Through ALL Things.
She says "Further, circles represent continuity, connectivity and the cycle of life (ideas present amongst many African and Native American people). Spirals represent spiritual development, eternity, the slow reveal of things that are hidden and feminine energy. Birds symbolize the communication with Spirit and our connection to the Divine, as well as spiritual evolution. Feathers are also depicted in her art to symbolize Divinity and as a nod to her Salish Kootenai ancestors.
She earned an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in Afro-American Studies with an emphasis in Art History. She earned an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Sculpture and studied wood carving with Ghanaian Master Wood-carvers, Djam Vivie & Kwakou Gerai.
Barbara L. Jones, is a lifelong Detroiter and community activist, organizer and youth-violence prevention advocate.
She is the Community Dispute Resolution Specialist and Faculty Instructor for the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Wayne State University.
Barbara mentors and advocates for the youth in Detroit and in the metro Detroit area in a variety of capacities in schools and with organizations. She is the Program Director for the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, a program that delivers expertise training in a higher learning academic setting that provides high school youth development services that focus on civic engagement, conflict resolution intervention, violence prevention, bullying, diversity, civil rights, race relations, negotiation, leadership, international affairs, diplomacy, social justice, and crucial life skills with the overarching theme and tools of how to teach students to individually and collectively foster peace within their own schools and communities.
She has worked with The Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership as a housing coordinator and served as a caregiver for legendary activist Grace Lee Boggs the final years of her life. The Boggs Center is a non-profit center founded in 1995 by friends and associates of James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs to honor and continue their legacy as movement activists and theoreticians.
Barbara also has over 22 years of broadcast media advertising and marketing experience.
Vinnie Bagwell is a sculptor who creates three-dimensional and bas-relief sculptures in bronze and bronze resin. Born in Yonkers, New York she is an untutored artist who began sculpting in 1993.
She has the rare ability to cross over between illustration, graphic design, painting, and sculpture. Her portraits display immense spirit and authenticity. She has powers of observation and an innate understanding of proportion.
Her first commission: “The First Lady of Jazz Ella Fitzgerald” was commissioned by the City of Yonkers in 1996. It is the first sculpture of a contemporary African-American woman to be commissioned by a municipality in the United States. In 2018, a sculpture of Hartford educator, “Walter ‘Doc’ Hurley”, commissioned by the State of Connecticut, became the first public artwork of a contemporary African American in Connecticut. A life-sized sculpture of music icon Marvin Gaye has also commissioned for the new Marvin Gaye Recreation Center in NE DC.
After ten years she will complete the Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden, the urban-heritage public-art project for the City of Yonkers, New York, to commemorate the legacy of the first enslaved Africans to be released by law in the United States, 64 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. She will also complete and install “Sojourner Truth” for the Walkway Over the Hudson” in Poughkeepsie, NY and begin the creation of “Victory…” a 15’ angel to replace the J. Marion Sims on Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street for New York City.
Harmonica Sunbeam is an entertainer, mother. activist, role model, and Drag Queen. She made her thrilling debut at an NYC drag ball nearly three decades ago when she walked in a category called "Butch Queen, First Time Up in Drag at a Ball" and won.
Now she's a part of the Drag Queen Story Hour representing North Jersey and New York.
Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) is just what it sounds like—drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DQSH began in San Francisco Michelle Tea in 2015 and has since exploded across the nation and overseas.
Harmonica responded to an open audition and took the training to be a storyteller. Her first Drag Queen Story Hour was in the library in New York City with 75 children in attendance and was covered by The New York Times. In 2018 Harmonica was interviewed as part of HBO’s The Studio celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.
Drag Queen Story Hour is trying to raise a new generation of children who along with their families and communities are accepting of each other, open to being who they are, and understanding that we're not all the same and it's OK. Drag Queen Story Hour captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.
Zoë Flowers is healing with her hands and words. She began her career in Atlanta, Georgia where she served as the Public Awareness/Training and Membership Coordinator for the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. With more than 20 years in the gender-based violence movement, she works nationally and internationally on the issues of domestic and sexual violence. She has appeared on National Public Radio, WOVN Chicago, spoken at Yale University, Springfield College, Smith College, and Bowie State University.
In 2012, she founded Soul Requirements Inc. a consulting business that merges social justice and holistic healing. Soul Requirements healing services utilize meditation, visualization, reiki, and intuitive coaching to increase awareness, reduce stress, and to promote relaxation and creativity. She currently facilitates individual and group healing sessions, retreats, workshops, and online courses for clients and students from New York to Ecuador. Her healing contributions were evaluated by Georgetown University and can be found in Traumatology, 23(2), 143–152.
She co-created ASHES – a play that breathes life into the original stories from her book, From Ashes To Angel ‘s Dust: A Journey Through Womanhood (FA2AD). FA2AD chronicles the experiences of abuse survivors and ASHES includes new stories about the media, campus sexual assault, body image, and the journey to self-love.
In 2017, Zoë added film maker turned television writer to her resume. She wrote, produced, and independently shot a short film. The film was recently turned into an episodic series called Rode.
Through "The Legacy Walk" in Chicago (the world's only outdoor LGBTQ history museum and Chicago's newest Historic Landmark); "The Legacy Project Education Initiative" (a free, downloadable resource); and "The Legacy Wall" (a traveling interactive exhibit) – the award-winning Legacy Project is committed to challenging the social and cultural marginalization of LGBTQ people. Victor Salvo was Chicago Chairperson for the 1987 National March on Washington Committee. This committee led an estimated 5000 Chicagoans to the nation’s capital.
THE LEGACY PROJECT was inspired the first time the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was shown at this National March.
In Part two of our interview with Victor Salvo, cofounder and executive director of The Legacy Project in Chicago he will share what is ahead for the Legacy Project as it enters its second decade, how the Project has been impacted by the COVID -19 Pandemic and how individuals can visit and support the Legacy Project and Walk
The Legacy Project would have been celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the plans for this year’s celebration and the project’s other activities including "The Legacy Walk" and "The Legacy Wall" have been changed.
Chicago’s Legacy Project illuminates and affirms the lives of LGBTQ people to honor their experiences and accomplishments; to collect and preserve their contributions to world history and culture; to educate and inspire the public and young people; and to assure an inclusive and equitable future.
Part One of our interview with Victor Salvo, cofounder and executive director of Chicago's Legacy Project.
THE LEGACY PROJECT was inspired the first time the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was shown at the National March on Washington for LGBT Civil Rights in 1987. Victor Salvo led a group of 5,000 Chicagoans to Washington DC to participate in the march and view the Quilt. The first "National Coming-Out Day" was also celebrated on October 11th of that year. Inspired by these vents, the idea of a Legacy Project to tell the stories of LGBTQ people began.
Chicago’s Legacy Project illuminates and affirms the lives of LGBTQ people to honor their experiences and accomplishments; to collect and preserve their contributions to world history and culture; to educate and inspire the public and young people, and to assure an inclusive and equitable future.
The Legacy Project would have been celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the plans for this year’s celebration and the project’s other activities including "The Legacy Walk" and "The Legacy Wall" have been changed.
Victor will share what is ahead for the Legacy Project as it enters its second decade, how the Project has been impacted by the COVID -19 Pandemic and how individuals can visit and support the Legacy Project and Walk. He also shares the history of the Project, stories of many LGBTQ luminaries, and those who have been honored.
The original idea was to organize a party that would promote the annual pride exhibit for Casa Frela Art Gallery. Carmen Neely with Lawrence Rodriguez built that original idea into what would later be called “Harlem Pride.” As the idea of a Harlem Pride celebration began to spread, they decided to expand the idea, especially after learning that there had never been a formal public celebration in Harlem. Since 2010, Harlem Pride has expanded to include community forums, workshops, networking events, and other community outreach activities.
Neely designed the original logo and began wearing a t-shirt with the design at a popular poetry night. The Harlem Pride logo is a symbolic representation of the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building, the tallest building in Harlem. The very first Harlem Pride Day Celebration was held on Saturday, June 26, 2010, on the block of W. 119th Street, between Lenox and Fifth Avenues. Harlem Pride is always held during the last full weekend in June. Harlem Pride's mission is to empower Harlem’s SGL/LGBTQ community (which includes, family, friends, and allies) to improve its physical, mental, and economic health and wellness.
Originally from Charlotte, NC Neely graduated from Howard University with a BFA in Theatre and a minor in Film Production. She also holds a Master of Science in Teaching from Fordham University.
Although managing Harlem Pride keeps her very busy, she is also an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc and other Harlem based LGBTQ organizations.
In the greater metropolitan Atlanta area, there are about six or seven Unitarian Universalist congregation, but they are all in predominantly white areas of town.
In 2018, Rev. Duncan E. Teague with others committed to moving forward with black lives of Unitarian universalism, and building communities, centered in black communities and communities of color founded the Abundant LUUv Congregation - A new Unitarian Universalist congregation in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta.
Abundant LUUv’s beliefs are diverse and inclusive embracing diverse teachings from Eastern and Western religions and philosophies. It is committed to continuing the work of healing communities and is working with Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health and the School of Nursing to assist with research to inform faith-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs from the perspective of Black gay and bisexual men.
Before accepting his calling to ministry, Rev. Teague had an established career in HIV/AIDS education, advocacy, and research coordination. He began at AIDS Atlanta within the first five years of the epidemic. In the 2017 legislative session of the State of Georgia House of Representatives, he was recognized for his many years of HIV/AIDS work.
He graduated from the Candler School of Theology in 2011 and ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta and credentialed by the larger UU Association in 2014. Rev. Teague is an inductee to the Morehouse College, Board of Preachers of the Martin Luther King, Jr. International College of Ministers and Laity, 2015. His story was featured in the 2018 Atlanta Journal Constitution article and subsequent interviews of Atlanta-area men leading the struggle of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African American gay, bisexual and transgender people, from the 1980s to the present.
The book “Women Rapping Revolution: Hip Hop Community Building in Detroit” is described as an attempt to illuminate the important role that women have played in mobilizing a grassroots response to political and social pressures at the heart of the city’s ongoing renewal and development. Detroit, MIchigan, has long been recognized as a center of musical innovation and social change.
Authors Rebekah Farrugia, Professor of Media Studies in the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations and Kellie Hay Professor of Cultural Studies in the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations, both at Oakland University located in Rochester, Michigan, spent seven years in the community with The Foundation, a Detroit-based women-centered hip hop collective.
Their fieldwork in writing this book shows us how crucial it is for us to engage with outside cultures with a strong level of cultural competency and authenticity. The Detroit hip-hop women trailblazers they speak and build relationships with give us glimpses of Black womanhood and ways Black women are dismantling the hip-hop gender status quo. Kellie and Rebekah also share how this journey has challenged and evolved their own perceptions of feminism, especially in the realm of academia. Overall, such a really fascinating, multi-layered conversation.
They say they were not trying to take anything away from or appropriate the culture but, only with the permission and direction of the collective, to document something so it doesn’t go away and morph into something else.
Right about now, each year metro-Detroit's LGBTQ community is getting ready to celebrate PRIDE. Ferndale PRIDE usually kicks things off, but this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic Ferndale Pride has tentatively been rescheduled for September 26th Julia Music is the Executive Director of Ferndale Pride.
She has been active in the Ferndale community since she was 16 years of age. Music served on the Ferndale Community Foundation, ran the Taste of Ferndale fundraiser, and helped start Ferndale Pride, In 2019 she was unanimously appointed to fill a temporary seat on the Ferndale City Council.
Ferndale Pride gave $20,000 to the Ferndale Community Foundation and $2,000 each to Affirmations, Gender-identity Network Alliance, Matrix MAC Health, Transgender Detroit, and Transgender Michigan. Since its beginning, Ferndale Pride has returned almost $200,000 to the community
She will talk about the history of Ferndale Pride, her love for this metro-Detroit suburb, and what is ahead for this year's celebration as the community wrestles with the current health challenge. Ferndale Pride’s naming sponsor is the Candle Wick Shoppe.
Virtual events include a virtual dance party and "We're Home and We are Here"
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic Lupus Detroit’s main fundraising events – The Lupus Detroit Brunch in May and the Walk for Warriors in the fall have been canceled but the work continues.
Sharon Harris, Lupus Detroit Founder/Executive Director, talks about how the organization continues to provide support for warriors including virtual meetings and webinars, and introduces another phenomenal Lupus Warrior Kalyn Risker Fahie.
Kalyn is not only a Lupus Warrior but also a survivor of domestic violence. After escaping her abusive relationship she went on to found SAFE - Sisters Acquiring Financial Empowerment - to equip survivors of domestic violence with the appropriate financial tools and resources needed to enable women to leave or recover from the economic portion of domestic violence.
In 2015 she married and moved to St. Thomas in the US Virgin Island but continued to run SAFE long-distance with the assistance of a group of dedicated volunteers.
In 2016 she joined The Virgin Island Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Council as program liaison. The Council is a leader of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Awareness cause.
She still visits Detroit regularly for SAFE and to support her Lupus Warrior family.
Tameka Ramsey is the owner and principal associate at T Ramsey and Associates.
She’s also a mother and grandmother. Her eldest is an essential worker who with his wife are on the frontline during this COVID-19 epidemic. At home, she has a daughter going through the most unusual of senior high school year and a son growing up in this uncertain normal of homeschooling and social distancing. Family comes first. If she could she would have one big home where her family could stay together building memories and legacy.
You might say she is a renaissance woman with an eye on her community as she builds that future legacy for her family. T. Ramsey & Associates has been in business since 2015. It provides services to small businesses, startups, and nonprofit organizations. The office is located in Pontiac, MI, but their clients span across the United States and abroad. They work closely with a diverse group of clients on achieving their mission, while assisting them in growing in capacity.
Tameka is a nationally sought-after consultant, that specializes in providing training and coaching to grow the capacity of organizations and small businesses, through technical assistance, strategic planning, and professional development.
She has worked tirelessly to strengthen grassroots organizations across the country that are committed to improving their communities for every individual but her heart has and always will be in the city of Pontiac, Michigan.
She shares her personal experiences from childhood and motherhood. Not only do they serve as testimonies to her ambition and success, but they also spark inspiration as to how we can build a strong, lasting, thriving Black future and legacy.
Originally from Chicago, as a youth, L. Michael Gipson lived briefly in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he excelled as an honor student. After returning to the United States when he was 16, Gipson came out to his family and was subsequently kicked out of his home.
Gipson describes himself as a Street Kid Made Good. Situationally homeless at age 16, the trajectory of his life changed dramatically following a chance meeting with two dynamic Black doctoral candidates in Chicago. They saw his potential taking him under their wings and mentoring him. The rest, as they say, is history.
L Michael Gipson is clearly a master of all trades! With his warm, humorous storytelling, you’re in for a ride as we follow Michael’s colorful journey from a young adult shaped by two life-changing mentors to becoming a life-changing mentor himself.
Gipson is deeply appreciated and respected as a blogger who publishes a popular daily microblog, “The Gipson Gazette,” where he and over 6000 followers talk about film, music, culture, politics, and anything else that interest him and his readers that day.
In DC, Atlanta, California, Cleveland and Detroit in each city where he has landed, this founder of the Black Bear Brotherhood, this writer, researcher, advocate, cultural curator, and art critic, has left his mark.
April is National Poetry Month. It was established in 1996 as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.
In a special crossover event Collections .and SAGE Metro Detroit team up to close out National Poetry Month together.
SAGE METRO DETROIT’s Executive Director, Angie Perone talks about the organization's work not only in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties but throughout the state. SAGE Metro Detroit was launched in October 2015. It was formerly known as The LGBT Older Adult Coalition which was originally formed in 2010. It is working to establish effective programs and services for LGBTQ older adults.
SAGE USA is America's oldest and largest non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of the LGBTQ community focusing on the issue of LGBTQ Ageing. According to its mission statement, "SAGE leads in addressing issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) aging. In partnership with its constituents and allies, SAGE works to achieve a high quality of life for LGBT older people, supporters, and advocates for their rights, fosters a greater understanding of aging in all communities and promotes positive images of LGBT life in later years.
Award-winning poet Kelly Native Child Brown is a prominent slam poet, a public speaker, and a licensed therapist who empowers survivors of domestic and sexual abuse to share their stories and begin healing from trauma. She channels her feelings into writing and performing slam poetry. Working with survivors of domestic abuse and writing poetry has given her the opportunity to heal through words
Chief Activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice Robt Seda-Schrieber continues to find ways to serve the LGBTQ community.
Like many nonprofits during these days of social-distancing, quarantines, and shutdowns the Center has had to shut its doors, canceling its programs and suspending services. Another unintended consequence is the loss of funds not just in donations but from cancellation of training the Center provides to local businesses, organizations, and schools. It is a double whammy!
The Center is surviving while it continues to provide for the community while its doors are closed, Organizations like the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice are showing up for us, providing virtual space for gathering in the Princeton, New Jersey community like so many others across the country. Weeknights the Cheif Activist Robt Seda Schreiber reaches out to the community virtually with the BRCSJ Social Justice Power Hour. Programs include "Drag Queen Monday," Queer Yoga on Tuesday, an Open Mic as well as interviews with local/national activists, authors and others.
The Center provides inspiration by the beauty of the ways it is holding each other virtually and symbolically at this moment.
Elizabeth Crenshaw returns to talk about life in Pontiac today as a journalist, community activist, and owner of Yaktown Yoga.
In this “new normal” we may find ourselves experiencing a whirlwind of emotions: fear, hopelessness, gratitude, and confusion. Crenshaw shares her sage advice for coping during this unsettling time, shedding light on ways we can maintain our sense of emotional stability and community.
She believes It's time to tune into ourselves mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Yaktown Yoga provides Community-based yoga in Pontiac, Auburn Hills, and surrounding communities in the Metropolitan Detroit area.
Its mission is to reach out into the community and make yoga accessible to EVERYONE to create a SAFE and INCLUSIVE space for students, and to bring HEALING to underserved communities.
In this time of COVID-19 the Mayor of Ypsilanti Michigan Beth Bashert wears many hats. She is a longtime community activist, a parent/grandparent, and spouse of Lisa Marshall Bashert. She is an out and proud leader in the LGBTQIA community. She works in sales at an Ann Arbor Auto Dealership and she is the Mayor of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is a city in Washtenaw County in Michigan, perhaps best known as the home of Eastern Michigan University. A
In these days of COVID-19 she is right at the heart of many decisions impacting not just her family and employment but the lives of her friends, community, and constituency as well.
How are Beth and her family handling the constraints of social isolation/distancing? What are her observations as someone whose employment has been directly impacted? How is it affecting members of the LGBTQ community? And how, as an elected official, is she leading in this time of crisis.
Compassionate, community governance in the days of a global pandemic - Beth shares many insights fro every aspect of her life as community member, activist, family member and elected official,
As a Health Wellness Advocate / Transformational Coach Kim Ford uses her fitness journey to assist and motivate others to find body and soul balance. Kim believes that we already have everything we need to get to live our life with power, purpose, clarity, and intention.
As so many face the challenges of isolation due to the COVID-19 epidemic Kim shares how this can be a time to reset and find our own unique journeys and paths filled with dreams and visions of the lives we want to live.
Each of us moves along our own unique journeys and paths filled with dreams and visions of the lives we want to live. This movement not only through exercise, yoga, and meditation but our interactions with others can help us redefine how we live in community with one another,
She has over 20 years’ experience working with grassroots, community-based, and national nonprofit organizations. Based in New York, Her work has been intergenerational, has crossed boundaries and been pioneering.
Kim helps others along those paths as they uncover and recognize their individual talents, gifts and abilities. As a development coach, she uses her skills and knowledge to work with non-profit leaders by providing them with tools, and helping them discover the resources they need to build and execute their strategy, and reach their goals.
Johnson calls both Saginaw and Kalamazoo, Michigan home. She has been a public scholar teaching at Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, Saginaw Valley State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
She was one of the co-founders and Executive Directors of Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative in Kalamazoo. And every Saturday morning as DJ Disobedience she hosts Radio "Slip Back Soul" on Kalamazoo’s WIDR 89.1 FM.
She formed Playgrown in 2003 with an eye on creating play spaces and experiences for teens and adults. Playgrown creates accessible intergenerational play spaces and exercise opportunities that provide transformative principles of play for populations of play-deprived teens and adults.
Playgrown partnered with play organizers like interplay to create spaces and generate experiences in existing places to bring people together to play across age, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicities, and physical abilities.
She applied for and received an Arcus Center for Social Justice and Leadership fellowship at Kalamazoo College from September 2011 to April 2012. During this fellowship, she researched multi and intergenerational play and focused on how play functions as a basic need. Dr. Johnson collected local, national and international data and visited playground organizers and manufacturers in parts of Europe.
Beginning in Kalamazoo the project will grow to collaborate with stakeholders such as employable neighbors, urban farmers and other cultural producers to provide a café and studio lodging.
Famika Edmond is a Senior Public Health Educator for the HIV/STI Prevention Division of Detroit Health Department.
As a child, her mother brought Famika and her siblings to Michigan from New York. When her family found themselves homeless, Famika signed out of high school and went to work to help take care of the family. Six months later, after her family was able to get housing, she went back to school and received her GED. One of her goals was to attend a four-year college. She ended up getting accepted to four different colleges. Famika attended Eastern Michigan University, where she completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Administration. She also earned her Master’s in Health Administration and is returning for a second Masters in Public Health.
Famika realized the need for women to have a safe space to be able to express themselves and be supported by other women. She founded and created ‘For the Love of H.E.R. (Healing, Empowerment, Resilience), which is a five-week workshop in which participants are given the opportunity to examine their journey and its rising themes in order to identify experiences that have potentially blocked or slowed personal and or professional growth.
In February 2019 she was accepted into Black AIDS Institutes, Black AIDS Ambassador program. The program’s purpose will is to build engagement and movement around HIV and sexual health for Black women in the Metro Detroit Area. She was also part of a Detroit based team scheduled to present an NGO Parallel event as part of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. The panel was canceled due to the COVID-19 crisis but Famika and her team hope to present the panel at other venues later in the year.
Dree Cooper's hood feminism is a throwback to a very old concept in the black community when women not only raised their families, they nourished entire ecosystems of neighbors and kin.
She makes her home in an area of Detroit some call “Prostitute Row” but she calls it home, her neighborhood.
She looks out for the elders, the children, and yes, the sex workers providing food, clothing shelter and love to all who cross her path. Also, an animal lover, Dree has rescued at least 300 dogs and probably as many cats.
Dree is a water rights activist who believes every citizen should have access to clean, affordable water. She has lived without access to water when a landlord didn’t pay the water bill and she couldn’t afford to move. This experience fuels her fight to stop other families from being denied access to water for their families.
She defines her activism as hood feminism because she cares about people who are of color, nonbinary, ghetto, rachet, homeless, disabled, mentally ill, trans, the people who do hair out of their homes, cook fish on Fridays for sale, sex workers – especially those who are black and trans – and those fixing cars in their garage. Dree accepts all of these people.
Danielle Hall aka Passion the Lioness. Danielle is a poet, Model, Actress, and Mentor. Through her poetry and work as a model/actress, she empowers women to love themselves just as they are. Passion the Lioness pushes back against societal images of “what a woman should be/look like” with her message of body positivity.
Danielle has worked as a model for four years. She has done runway and print work and has been published in several magazines. Danielle also writes and performs poetry. Recently Danielle has been getting into acting as well. She is very passionate about everything she does and loves inspiring other people especially young women
She started modeling because for a while she felt lost in life. She wasn't confident about herself and began to lose hope. She felt like she didn't belong in this world. Modeling gave her confidence. Now she is not only helping herself but helps others.
Danielle's goal is to be known worldwide, to not only be a pretty face but to make a difference. She feels that if one person wins we all win. Danielle wants to be that encouragement for the little girls who believe they aren't good enough. She is dedicated and determined to make y dreams come true. I will continue to make my mark in this industry.
Ravi K. Perry Ph.D. is Chair of the Department of Political Science at Howard University. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Perry holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Brown University, each in political science. He was Assistant Professor of Political Science and Stennis Scholar for Municipal Governance at Mississippi State University and Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University before joining Howard University.
An expert on Black politics, minority representation, urban politics, American public policy, and LGBT candidates of color, Dr. Perry is the editor of 21st Century Urban Race Politics: Representing Minorities as Universal Interests, a book that discusses the efforts of African American, Latino and Asian mayors to represent the interests of minorities in historically White cities in the United States. His second book, entitled Black Mayors, White Majorities: The Balancing Act of Racial Politics, focuses on the challenges Black mayors face in representing Black interests in majority White, medium‐sized cities in the state of Ohio.
His third book, published with his mother, is The Little Rock Crisis: What Desegregation Politics Says About Us. In it, they frame the story of the Little Rock 1957 desegregation crisis through the lens of memory.
Perry’s recent publication, “LGBT Politics and Rights through the Obama Era,” examines President Obama’s evolution on the rights afforded LGBT (Black) Americans.
He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors
London Bell is a community warrior. This lawyer, community organizer, activist and humanitarian can always be found standing for the human rights of all – not just in metro Detroit but anywhere people, especially women and girls, are oppressed. The native Detroiter has focused her career advocating for policy changes on behalf of diverse communities. She is the President and CEO of Bell Global Justice Institute, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Detroit focused on advancing and promoting the international human right to education for girls.
Bell Global Justice Institute, in partnership with the Ruth Ellis Center, will be hosting an NGO Parallel Event during the 64th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
The parallel event “Promising Practices for Beijing+25: Strengthening Visibility for Women of Color will feature besides Bell, Deidre “D.S.Sense” Smith, Founder of On My Detroit Everything Movement; Famika Edmond, Founder of For The Love of HER; Corporal Dani Woods, Chief’s Neighborhood Liaison Unit Detroit Police Department; and Pamela E. Alexander, Deputy Director at the Ruth Ellis Center. Their presentation will showcase gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women is planned to take place from 9 to 20 March 2020 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The year 2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995).
The 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will focus on how do we make the changes needed.
Senyah Haynes is a writer, painter, actress and youth development professional but it is her role as an aunt the has given life to her current project as the author of “Jayla’s Jaunts.” Book series.
As an 18 year-old she traveled to Jamaica and for the first time understood how limited her view had been of the African Diaspora. This realization put her on the course for learning and sharing this with others, especially youth.
In 2015 she founded Palindrome Global Publishing & Events a small press and events services company in Chicago. Jayla’s Jaunts is published under PGP&E’s imprint for young readers Oak in the Acorn. Jayla’s Jaunts is an exciting adventure series about a fun-loving little girl and her whimsical auntie “Yah-Yah.” Together they travel and explore the culture and history of every place they go. Haynes admits that much of her personality can be found in Jayla’s Auntie Yah-Yah. The series plans to take them to each of the fifty states. In Jayla’s Jaunts: All About Alabama they visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Tuskegee Airmen, Rosa Parks and more. In Jayla’s Jaunts Adventures in Alaska they bathe themselves in the lights of the Aurora Borealis.
She also co-founded Diasporal Discoveries to expose youth to the diversity of the African Diaspora with the goal of connecting them to various cultures both domestic and abroad. Diasporal Discoveries envisions a student population where youth are aware of self and (for those of the Diaspora) connected to those who share a common history globally. In this vision, youth see themselves through a wider lens, as inheriting a legacy of not only endurance, but of vibrancy and accomplishment.
Haynes will be reading from them during a Black History month tour organized by Rainbow Room Publishing in Chicago area venues.
Robert Zurenko is a professional artist currently living and working in the Metro-Detroit area.
He has multiple degrees in art and has spent his entire career in the creative field, making art, educating people and trying to make art experiences more accessible for everyone.
In October 2019 he was one of the jurists at Kaleidoscope of Expression which celebrated pride at the Pontiac Creative Arts Center. The exhibit’s goal was to showcase the varied works and talents of LGBTQ artists.
Zurenko's work revolves around the intersection of ideas embedded in gender identity, sexuality, popular culture, and the context in which they are presented His passion for nature and harmony drives his work, and he loves connecting the world back to itself through people and art.
Zurenko has participated in many exhibits locally including the Trans Day of Artivism and Gender X Show at Afffimations, the NSO Detroit Man In the City Event, Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Fest, and the Breaking Borders Fine Art Show and Harmony & The Cosmic Connection show at Tangent Gallery.
His biggest supporter is his mother who not only has saved his art but allowed him to put a temporary tattoo of "The Golden Girls" on her back, His MFA Thesis Show, at the Broad Art Museum on the campus of MSU "Lesbian Ancient Aliens" housed objects, videos and images associated with famous lesbians throughout history.
When not teaching, judging or making art on Canvas, Robert is making personal art as a tattoo artist. Tattoos are a world tradition that has cropped up in every single part of the world from time. before we could even know it, you know. He believes it is one of those practices that has a deep history and a wide world history, which is one thing that he loves about it.
Elizabeth Crenshaw is a graduate of Michigan State University with a background in Journalism, Kinesiology, and Engineering. She believes everyone deserves compassion, kindness, equal opportunity, and love. She is the founder and owner of Yaktown Yoga,
Crenshaw was a former collegiate track athlete, kickboxer and bodybuilder before becoming a yoga instructor. She graduated from the Beaumont School of Yoga, the first hospital-based yoga therapy program in the nation. She believes in the healing and transformative power of yoga, and that the practice of yoga is meant for everyone.
Yaktown Yoga's mission is to reach out to the community and make yoga accessible to everyone creating a safe and inclusive space for students, especially in underserved communities. Yaktown Yoga is a Community-based practice in Pontiac, Auburn Hills, and surrounding communities in the Metropolitan Detroit area. Yoga is a map to get there - Reducing stress, Building relationships, and Enhancing your health and energy.
Crenshaw is a graduate of Michigan State University with a background in Journalism, Kinesiology and Engineering. She believes everyone deserves compassion, kindness, equal opportunity and love.
LGBTQ communities are disproportionately affected by cancer. The stress and stigma experienced by sexual and gender minority communities interact with cancer, one of the most devastating of health challenges. The National LGBT Cancer Network works to improve the lives of LGBT cancer survivors.
Scout is the Deputy Director at The National LGBT Cancer Network, After completing his master's in sociology, Scout realized while applying to his Ph.D. program that the work he had really been doing was in public health. This realization led him to Columbia University’s sociomedical sciences program, an interdisciplinary program, with a study divided between Public Health and Sociology.
He is not only the Deputy Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network but also the principal investigator of the CDC-funded LGBTQ tobacco-related cancer disparity network. Scout has a long history in health policy analysis and a particular interest in expanding LGBTQ surveillance and research. His work has won him recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives, two state governments, and many city governments.
From Tobacco use to cancer screening including mammograms and cervical cancer awareness – Cancer prevention, care and cure is an LGBTQ issue.
Originally from Youngstown, OH she lives in Atlanta, GA. Three years after Falami earned her master’s in educational leadership from Antioch University Midwest, she suffered two mini-strokes.
She started on a self-care journey as a result of her health issues that continued and expanded.” She had been juggling school, work, and family. and was beginning to understand the importance of balance and prioritizing herself.”
Falami is a Body Liberation and Self Care Coach specializing in the self care of women of color. She operates Holistic Alchemy, her business, from her hometown of Atlanta. Her work with clients involves individual sessions and group conversations – incorporates her years of research in body positivity. It specializes in the healing and self-care of women of color offering personal sound healing therapy sessions, body positive coaching and workshops for women, holistic lifestyle coaching, and sound baths.
This year, she’ll earn her PhD from Antioch’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change with a specialization in African-American women experiences of their bodies. She is also an Antioch affiliate faculty member.
Deb Drennan is the Executive Director of Freedom House Detroit. Freedom House is a temporary home for survivors of persecution from around the world seeking asylum in the United States and Canada. Its mission is to uphold a fundamental American principle, one inscribed on the bas of the Statue of Liberty, providing safety for those “yearning to breathe free.”
During this holiday season, we often reflect upon the Holy Family at Bethlehem. They were poor and affected by various political realities—just as many around the world are today. Joseph and Mary had to leave their home in Nazareth and journey to Bethlehem to escape persecution and possible death had they stayed in Nazareth. There, in a poor stable, Mary gave birth to her child.
At a time when many are hearing the echo of “no room in the inn.” Freedom House offers compassion and assistance to those suffering and seeking asylum.
Deb Drennan joined the agency in 2006 as program director and has been Executive Director in 2009. She has more than 30 years of nonprofit experience. Prior to joining Freedom House, she worked with Women ARISE and the Coalition on Temporary Shelter in Detroit.
Asylum seekers sometimes spend nine months or more at Freedom House while their case is heard. The organization provides not only housing, clothing and food but also legal assistance, and help finding work and permanent housing when they have been granted asylum.
Robt Seda-Schreiber is Chief Activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice in Princeton, New Jersey.
His passion is in part driven by memories of a beloved uncle who was gay but couldn’t come out because his father wouldn’t have understood and as an adolescent, seeing these issues of identity, especially for youth, is shrouded in secrecy and instilling a sense of shame and wrongness on his peers.
-Named for the civil rights leader who was the primary architect of the 1963 March on Washington, the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice is an educational enclave and a brave safe space for all people. The Center was established with the explicit consent of Rustin’s partner, Walter Naegle. Naegle now serves on the board providing community outreach.
A lot has happened since Robt first introduced us to the Center. It has a new home, led the first pride parade in Princeton, NJ, held book signings for LGBTQ authors while hosting a variety of community-building programs. Its library has officially been recognized as a lending library and is filled by books, some first editions, donated from the community.
A former educator, as Chief Activist, Robt has moved forward with his experience, knowledge, & passion, to bring his service to a greater platform—to serve & defend the LGBTQ community. He has started or assisted others to start GSA's at several NewJersey high schools.
Besides serving the LGBTQIA community, the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice serves as a catalyst to bring diverse communities together to build a more equitable community.
Ask people about the state of Michigan and certain images are bound to come to mind – Motown, the auto industry, Detroit and probably that giant mitten. It’s a really big state geographically but its also a state rich in history.
For many African Americans, their history follows a path from ancestral homes in the south to Detroit often as part of the northern migration. But what many don’t realize is that many African Americans, some as early as the underground railroad days settled in western Michigan.
Marshall Kilgore was born and raised in on the west side of the state in Comstock Park, a little town on the outskirts of Grand Rapids. He believes that having grown up in Comstock Park gives him a different perspective. He learned how to code-switch very early on and very quickly meaning that he learned how to work within the majority, learning how to navigate while still keeping true to who you are as well.
Kilgore is an activist working for marginalized communities including communities of color, the LGBTQIA community, people with disabilities and others in need.
Marshall is ready to bring positive change to communities, the state and the nation.
He is studying political science at Western Michigan University. In addition, Kilgore is Western Michigan Director at United Precinct Delegates and Trustee of the Kalamazoo County Democratic Party.
After years of teaching and traveling to faraway places including Kenya and Brazil, Markita Moore returned to her high school alma mater, Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan as band director taking the reins from the very band director who had instructed her.
She is a passionate and versatile music educator who has dedicated her time and talent to teaching in Metro Detroit for the past eight years.
Moore is honored and excited to follow in the footsteps of her predecessors by instructing the symphonic, concert, jazz, and marching bands at Cass.
Moore is currently raising funds to help send the band to Washington D.C. to participate in the 2020 National Memorial Day Parade.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib nominated the Cass Tech Marching Band to participate in the National Memorial Day parade.
At a recent rally in Detroit, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Tlaib each pledged $5,000 from their campaigns to support the Cass Tech Marching Band.
The students have $18,000 left to raise to cover travel expenses. Tax-deductible donations can be made through the Cass Tech Alumni Association website, marked for the ‘Adopt A Marcher’ fundraiser.
Marizol was adopted and was raised in the Bronx. Growing up in a Cuban family she didn't know what transgender was. Especially in the Latin community, a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl. But ever since she was little, she felt like she was born in the wrong body.
At 17 she told her older sister that she was transgender.
She didn't want to go through all the bullying, so she dropped out of high school in her junior year. Two months later, she began to dress as Marizol 24/7.
Today she is pursuing her dreams as a transgender Latina model, cook and activist. She recently co-authored the book “My Sister: How One Sibling's Transition Changed Us Both” with her sister Selenis Leyva.
Selenis stars as Gloria Mendoza on NETFLIX’s hit series Orange Is the New Black. The two were awarded Stonewall Community Foundation’s 2016 Vision Award for inspiring visibility, advocacy and outspoken support for the transgender community.
Robert A. Marchman, Esq. serves as PFLAG National Board Secretary. Initially the acronym for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, PFLAG was later broadened to Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gay.
Born in Brooklyn, Marchman now resides in Maplewood, NJ. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Allegheny College and received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He also attended Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development.
He was the first African American Executive Vice President of the New York Stock Exchange. He also served as chairman of the Stock Exchange’s Diversity council from its inception. Prior to joining the NYSE, he was a Branch Chief in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement in Washington DC. He Joined the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2010 and currently serves as FINRA’s Special Advisor to the Head of the Department of Enforcement.
Although his son’s coming out was not the traumatic experience many in the LGBTQ community experience, Marchman worries about his son’s safety in the community at large. His son’s safety and that of all members of the LGBTQ community drives Marchman to be involved in PFLAG.
It's our favorite road warrior Betty Couvertier bringing her unique perspective on politics from the pivotal state of Florida.
Florida is the third-most populous state in the United States. It contains the highest percentage of people over 65. Although there is a significant Hispanic population in South Florida, approximately 65% of the population identifying as White. It is among several states that are largely targeted by both political parties in the campaign period before the presidential election.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY Betty Couvertier called the Atlanta home for many years. Now in retirement, she spends a good deal of her time in Florida enjoying her retirement traveling in her RV with her dogs.
An out lesbian of Puerto Rican descent, Betty was the founder, producer and host of “Alternative Perspectives,” an LGBT radio show that continues to air on WRFG “Radio Free Georgia” a community-owned and operated station.
She served in various capacities on a number of non-profit organizations over the years in the Atlanta area before retiring and is the recipient of many awards for her service to the community.
From healthcare to youth activism to the DNC Debates, nothing escapes Betty's insightful gaze including STD's in senior communities. You'll be informed, educated and even have a laugh or two!!!
Judith Kasen-Windsor continues her conversation about her life with LGBTQ icon Edie Windsor. Judith first met Edie Windsor in 2010 at an LGBTQ event. Their encounters over the years led to conversations that led to romance and eventually marriage in September 2016, Longevity is not an indicator of intensity. Although Windsor died in 2017, theirs’s was a relationship filled with love.
Windsor was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court case which overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and was considered a landmark legal victory for the same-sex marriage movement in the United States,
Edie's memoir "A Wild and Precious Life" was released on October 8, 2019. She worked on the book with Joshua Lyon until her death. He finished the book using the hundreds of files Edie left behind that included files on all her family members, letters, photographs, musings and detailed day calendars dating back to 1953 among other things. This allowed him to trace every move of her life and provide details to bring the story to life, but the meat of the book is all Edie. And she told her story from childhood to the end, “warts and all’ as only she could tell. It was like sitting down, not reading a diary, but having Edie tell you her story herself.
Preserving Edie’s legacy keeps Judith going these days. Since Edie’s death, SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders) named their drop-in center for Edie Windsor; A Cultural medallion from New York’s Historic Preservation Center has been placed on her residence; her hometown Philadelphia named a street “Edie Windsor Way;” and The South Hampton hospital not only named their HIV/AIDS center after her but they plan to expand to two more locations that will also provide services related to women’s health and LGBTQ elders.
Judith first met Edie Windsor in 2010 at an LGBTQ event. Their encounters over the years led to conversations that led to romance and eventually marriage.
Windsor was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court case which overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and was considered a landmark legal victory for the same-sex marriage movement in the United States.
Longevity is not an indicator of intensity. Although Windsor died in 2017, theirs’s was a relationship filled with love.
Windsor was working on her memoir at the time of her death. That memoir “A Wild and Precious Life” was released on October 8, 2019.
Edie worked on the book with Joshua Lyon until her death. He finished the book using the hundreds of files Edie left behind that included files on all her family members, letters, photographs, musings and detailed day calendars dating back to 1953 among other things. This allowed him to trace every move of her life and provide details to bring the story to life, but the meat of the book was all Edie.
And she told her story from childhood to the end, “warts and all’ as only she could tell.
Since Edie’s death, Judith Kasen-Windsor has been traveling continuing Edie Windsor’s legacy. But most of all she is talking about her most favorite topic, the love of her life, Edie Windsor.
ALYCE EMORY studied sociology at Georgia State University before settling in New York City.
She has successfully managed marketing and event production for clients including HBO, A&E Television, Urbanworld Film Festival, The Apollo Theater, Circle of Life Celebration-Pride Memorial, Third Wave Foundation, UNESCO and others. She has served on committees for the NYC Community Board’s LGBTQ Town Hall, NYC Black Pride and as a member of Harlem Pride’s Founding Advisory Board.
Alyce is a member of the African Atlantic Research Team of Michigan State University and presented with the team at the Association for Worldwide African Diaspora Conference. She also serves on the Health & Wellness and Economic Development Committees of North Manhattan Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.., Black and Latino LGBTQ Coalition, and Kitchen Table Giving Circle. She also advises African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change.
With fellow New York activist Kim Ford, She co-founded Beyond Bold and Brave a conference to address the marginalization of Black/African Descent lesbians with few public spaces dedicated to addressing issues unique to them.
Beyond Bold and Brave Conferences have taken place at Barnard College in 2016, 2018 and will take place again in 2020. The theme of the 2020 conference will be Revolutionary Wellness.
Originally from Louisville, KY, Mahri Bahati attend the University of Kentucky in nearby Lexington for college. She earned her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Kentucky in 2013, with a focus in Epidemiology. Lexington was close to home but far enough away, so she felt independent as she lived her life authentically in the LGBTQ community.
She has had a lifelong interest in volunteering and community organizing which carried over into her college and professional life. As an undergrad, she began volunteering with local HIV/AIDS non-profits which sparked a professional interest in public health. A creative and passionate public health professional she has extensive experience across the HIV/AIDS continuum of care.
While working for the Kentucky Health Department word of her expertise and experience spread, she was tapped to join the Global Forum on MSM and HIV as Public Health Advisor developing and managing the global capacity-building project to build self-sustainability for trans-led organizations throughout the global south.
She began attending conferences and networking with other public health professionals. She always saw herself living and working in California.
Mahri is now a member of the PRIDE STUDY’s team located at Stanford University. The PRIDE Study is the first large-scale, long-term national health study of people who identify as LGBTQ+, or another sexual or gender minority.
As the All of Us Research Program Engagement Navigator, she works to engage 'yet to be reached’ sexual and gender minority sub-communities who are new to health research, who have experienced barriers in accessing healthcare, or who have had negative research experiences.
Collections by Michelle Brown visits the Pontiac Creative Arts Center as it prepares for its “Kaleidoscope of Expression” exhibition. The exhibition extends Southeast Michigan’s Pride season this year showcasing the varied works and talents of any interested LGBTQ artists.
PCAC board members Ronnie Karpinski and Patrizia Makohon talk about the October 12th event and exhibit that will run through the end of the month. Submissions have been received mainly from the Southeast Michigan area, but there have been several from across the state of Michigan and even as far as Florida and California. The PCAC’s new Executive Director Judy Wilson will also share her plans to continue to make the Center a place to showcase the areas creative base and celebrate its diverse community.
The “Kaleidoscope of Expression” exhibition is free to the public and takes place from 6-9PM. Pontiac Creative Arts Center is located at 47 Williams Street, Pontiac, MI
When Michelle Cox was diagnosed with breast cancer she did not give up or fall into a depression. Instead, she turned the diagnosis into a wakeup call to pursue her dream to make a difference as a children’s book author. She started a publishing company for her books with the hopes of igniting a love of reading and technology in children at a young age.
She went to college at age 15. She started her professional career in logistics. When downsizing brought an end to that career, she returned to school to learn about computers.
With over 19 years Field Support Specialist and as an In-Home Computer Repair Business Owner, Michelle has become not just an executive computer hardware instructor but also the go-to person with customers many who affectionately refer to her as “the computer lady.”
The students who attend her intensive training, find in Cox not only a dedicated instructor but a mentor who has personally walked many grads into their first interviews.
Her first published children’s book in the “Mommy” series is “Mommy, is the Computer Smarter than Me?” Future titles include, “Mommy; What are the Olympics?”; “Mommy, Why Can We Only See Daddy on the Computer?” and Mommy, What is Aviation? She hopes that her books will have a positive effect, “especially in the lives of children, as they are full of wonder and are little sponges seeking information.”
Michelle Regalado Deatrick lives with her family on an 80-acre farm in southeast Michigan, where she cares for a large organic garden, an orchard and a 20-acre native prairie surrounded by stands of native trees. For the past two farming seasons, her family has been unable to plant on most of their farm.
Regalado-Deatrick is also is a poet, a community advocate, an elected official. and an activist for the environment, small farm rights, women and fair wages.
She has served as Vice-Chair of the Washtenaw County Commission. In 2016, she ran successfully as a Democrat for the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. She was also elected to the Democratic National Committee and was subsequently elected as Midwest Representative to the DNC Women's Caucus
At the Democratic National Committee’s meeting in San Francisco in August, the party approved establishing the Environmental and Climate Council. This DNC Council was the culmination of months of work, garnering support from 50+ DNC co-sponsors to ensure passage of the Founding Resolution and whipping votes.
Michelle Regalado Deatrick leads the DNC Environmental and Climate Council team as its Chairwoman. The Council is here to further the Democratic Party’s commitment, articulated in the Party Platform, to tackle the climate crisis and protect our earth, air, and water.
The Council has a terrific team of Officers: Chairwoman Michelle Deatrick (DNC, Michigan), Vice-Chair David Green (DNC, Washington & Vice Chair, Washington Dem State Party), Communications Director/Secretary Devin Murphy (California) and Youth Director D Garcia (California). More will be joining the Council in leadership soon, from the scientific community and from diverse geographies and communities.
Kamora Herrington is Founder and CEO of Kamora’s Cultural Corner in Hartford, Connecticut.
She has offered cutting-edge community programs in Hartford for decades and is recognized for her groundbreaking work.
Kamora's Cultural Corner is a community space where people learn how to use their unique and shared identities to make genuine connections with others; Their work is driven by cultural humility. Cultural humility is the “ability to maintain an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented (or open to the other) in relation to aspects of cultural identity that are most important to the person.
The Cultural Corner serves, celebrates, and uplifts Hartford’s diverse families and individuals who are Black and Queer, as well as the larger community. The Cultural Corner is housed in the location of the former Kabbalah House community cultural center on Albany Avenue. Moving the Center into space with a history of welcoming marginalized communities into the larger Hartford community just made sense.
Before founding Kamora's Cultural Corner, Herrington was for 15 years the Mentoring Program Coordinator for True Colors. True Colors is a non-profit organization in Hartford that works to ensure that the needs of LGBTQ and general minority youth are recognized and served. True Colors manages Connecticut’s only LGBTQ mentoring program.
Herrington has been able to collaborate with some of her now adult “True Colors” kids in the programming at Kamora's Cultural Corner.
It’s time for the Lupus Detroit 7th Annual Walk for Warriors. Val Harris Carter is the organization's Board Secretary and Shannon Hester is a Lupus Warrior.
Val has been involved with the organization since its beginning stepping out on faith with Founder/Executive Director Sharon Harris to start this organization to fill a gap left by the more traditional Lupus organizations. Val has lost two family members to this disease. She uses her background in communications and marketing to inform and an educate others about the disease and build support for Lupus Detroit.
Shannon is one of those Warriors who has found home, community, and family at Lupus Detroit. She was diagnosed with Lupus in 2002. The disease attacked her kidneys and she has battled it for the past 17 years.
Lupus Detroit is a community based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating lupus as a major health problem through education, advocacy, and service. The organization has assembled a hard-working and dedicated group of empathetic professionals to serve Lupus Warriors but its commitment goes even further.
Lupus Detroit believes that no Lupus Warrior should have to decide between purchasing their medication and buying food for their families. The organization realizes that everyone needs assistance from time to time. They offer emergency financial assistance grants in addition to awareness and advocacy events. For Warriors its more than a handout, it’s a community. It’s a family!
The walk takes place Saturday, September 7th. Registration can be made online or the day of the event at New Center Park in Detroit.
Registration and donations can be made online or the day of at the event. No team, no problem – everyone in attendance whether a Warrior or just there to support is a member of the Lupus Detroit family. You will feel the strength, determination but most of all the love.
Derrick Clifton is a Chicago-based freelance journalist and writer whose work focuses on the intersections of identity, culture and social issues. Clifton’s reporting and opinion writing have appeared at NBC News, Vox, The Root, Windy City Times, Out, Chicago Reader and various other news outlets.
He holds two degrees from Northwestern University, including an MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism. He is an avid volunteer and has served on boards for scholarship organizations, education nonprofits and causes serving LGBTQ people. He also is a speaker and commentator on various cultural, wellness and social justice issues.
Clifton, who is queer and gender-fluid, is working on a memoir aimed at help readers understand the uniquely beautiful yet turbulent coming-of-age experiences for queer and gender-variant people of color. He believes "It takes all kinds to elevate awareness of intersectionality in media and mainstream culture, and it's been the blessing of his life to help advance a Black, queer and feminist perspective,"
In 2018 at the age of 29, he received the Esteem Award for Future Leaders – The Outstanding Millennial Award. Upon receiving the award Clifton said, "This award touches me not only because of the affirmation but because it's coming from my community."
Allison Van Kuiken is the Executive Director of Trans Can Work (TCW), a leading Workplace Education and Workforce Development organization advancing transgender inclusion in the workplace.
Born, raised, and educated in Michigan, Allison now spends their time between Washington DC and Southern California.
Prior to joining Trans Can Work, Allison spent 20 years in leadership positions within the private sector, higher education, the political realm, state government, and LGBTQ Advocacy spaces, including the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Equality California (EQCA)-work that has been defined by innovative programming, successful political, legislative, and marketing campaigns, and development of hundreds of leaders working in political, nonprofit, public, and private spaces.
Since joining Trans Can Work in 2018, Allison and their team’s collective vision have led to new and innovative approaches to workplace education, the expansion of the organization’s jobs program, which connects hundreds of inclusive workplaces to one of the nation’s largest transgender talent pools, and the development of a workforce development network that provides education and training to people of transgender experience in scores of high demand professions.
Along the way, Allison met and married their spouse and together are raising their beautiful and very curious toddler. One of her great joys these days is watching Sesame Street with their daughter each morning before taking her to school.
Like so many adults, Angela Denise Davis took piano lessons for many years as a child and was involved in middle school chorus but discontinued her music instruction after high school. She had a profound loss of vision in 2003 and became legally blind, which caused her to rethink how she could engage music. Angela ultimately discovered the ukulele in 2015, and it changed her life.
In January of 2019, she started teaching ukulele classes and formed The Ukulele Griot Collective. The Collective focuses on awakening musical skills in adults in order to increase social engagement and foster joy in making music. Davis assists students in laying a foundation that will provide a framework for independent learning beyond group instruction. She believes that almost anyone can learn to play the ukulele and reap a wealth of benefits from music instruction.
Her work as a minister focuses on how the fusion of art and spirituality can enlarge the ground beneath our feet and enrich the ways we move in personal and social spaces. She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where she earned a B.A. in Art. She also holds a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School and a Master of Science in rehabilitation counseling from Georgia State University.
Davis is also the creator, host, and producer of the ZAMI NOBLA Podcast. This podcast is for black lesbians over 40 who have always wanted a sound source that gets them. The show centers their lives with conversations about health and wellness, love and relationships, and current events.
She has been a performance artist, poet, and writer. She has also been known as a playwright, a curator, a visual artist, a spoken word artist performer, and public speaker. She was also the Trans Oral Historian for the Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesota interviewing and collecting the oral history of over 150 members of the transgender community. In 2017 she’s added a new position to her impressive resume – Councilwoman representing Minneapolis’s 8th ward and Vice President of Minneapolis City Council.
Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and the 46th largest city in the United States. With its smaller neighbor St. Paul, Minneapolis makes up the Twin Cities, the 16th largest metropolitan area in the country. In this historic election she became the first transgender woman of color elected to a major city council in the country. She serves with Phillippe Cunningham, a transgender man elected at the same time to represent to the city’s 4th Ward.
At its 110th annual convention, the NAACP passed three resolutions regarding the civil rights of the LGBTQ community. On the transgender community, the organization resolved to work with all its Units to work to support equal protection for transgender individuals so that all members of our community can live free of violence, shame, and discrimination. So far in 2019 twelve transgender women have been killed in the United States.
As a Transgender activist Andrea Jenkins not only speaks about protection for members of transgender women and men but more representation and inclusion in all areas including politics.
Jacquise Purifoy is an attorney, community and business developer, an HIV counselor and a Facilitator and Entrepreneur in Residence at the Build Institute.
She was sworn into the State Bar of Michigan in 2010. Prior to private practice, she was hired by former U.S. House of Representative Hansen Clarke as his Chief Correspondent. Later as Clarke’s Community Grants Coordinator she worked directly with key federal and state business and civic leaders to identify small business and economic development initiatives in Southeastern Michigan.
She joined the Build Institute in 2019, as the lead for Citywide Detroit Soup. The Build Institute helps people turn their business ideas into reality by providing them with the necessary tools, resources, and support network in Detroit. Detroit Soup is a micro granting dinner celebrating creative projects in Detroit.
She was profiled in Dbusiness Magazine’s 2014 Top Lawyers Edition, featured in Legal News’ Motion Magazine and recognized in B.L.A.C. Magazine as a local Hometown Hero.
A mother at age 13. Purifoy says that the birth of her daughter made her more determined to achieve the goals her mother set for her. She uses her life’s lessons to counsel young women on pregnancy prevention and reproductive health.
Jacquise is an avid advocate for people in her community. Her most memorable professional moment is having the opportunity to visit the White House on behalf of the citizens of Detroit and to personally meet President Barack Obama twice!
The name “Jim Toy” is synonymous with the queer movement in the state of Michigan.
The first publicly “out” man in Michigan, Jim was a founding member of the Ann Arbor Gay Liberation Front. In 1971 he established the first campus center in history devoted to the support of sexual minority group members.
The Human Sexuality Office (HSO) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor was later renamed The Spectrum Center Jim served as its Co-Coordinator, and Gay Male advocate at the Spectrum Center, from 1971 until 1994.
His status as a TBLG icon is based on over 40 years of tireless efforts to create safety and equality for people of all sexual and gender preferences through his speaking, teaching, writing, administrating, organizing and protesting.
The Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project an Ann Arbor resource center that existed to provide information, education, social events, and advocacy by and for the Queer and Ally community in the Washtenaw County area was renamed the Jim Toy Community Center in 2010 to honor this gay activist legend.
Travis Radina currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors at the Jim Toy Community Center. He was appointed to serve as the LGBTQ liaison to the mayor’s office in the City of Ann Arbor Michigan.
He is also a senior global engagement manager at the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, supporting the engagement efforts of alumni association chapters on the East Coast and in western and northern Michigan, and, working with several global affiliate groups, including the U-M LGBTQ Alumni and U-M Black Alumni.
Originally from Nashville, Reverend Keron R. Sadler now calls the Baltimore, Maryland area home. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Religion/Theology from the American Baptist Theological College. She is a graduate of Hood Theological Seminary with a master’s in divinity. For three years she studied at Pfeiffer University pursuing a second masters in Marriage & Family Therapy. During her internship at the Pfeiffer Institute, she provided intensive therapy to individuals, couples and families.
She has worked in Corporate-America for over twenty years; and is recognized for her organizational, leadership, verbal and written communication skills.
Presently, she serves as the national Manager of Health Programs for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Headquarters. She is responsible for maintaining and strengthening the NAACP’s commitment to HIV/AIDS as a high priority and high-profile issue. In her tenure there she managed the development and co-authored The Black Church and HIV: The Social Justice Imperative.
A dynamic and diverse speaker in her own right, she has been called upon to speak and teach to a variety of audiences. Reverend Keron’s passion remains being committed to fulfilling her divine purpose to serve all people of God’s Kingdom, by meeting the needs of pastors, pastor’s spouses, church leaders, lay people and the community-at-large, regardless of denomination, race, sex or class through the Ministry of Counseling.
The 110th NAACP Convention comes to Detroit, Michigan July 20-24th at Cobo Center, The NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. The theme for this year’s conference is “When we Fight, we win!”
The 2019 Esteem Awards will take place on Sunday, July 7th. It’s the 12th year individuals and organizations from Chicago and across the country will be recognized for their accomplishments.
Philip Esteem is the founder and organizer of the annual awards ceremony. He started working in the community with Black Pride in Chicago back in 2005. Philip founded the Esteem Awards to give recognition to outstanding LGBTQ organizations and individual not only in Chicago but nationally each year. Besides the Esteem Awards, he also manages PrideIndex.com, an online entertainment guide to events, bars and parties for the African-American and LGBT communities.
This year’s 12th annual Esteem Awards ceremony will take place in collaboration with the Lighthouse Church of Chicago. The awards will take place at the Church. The Lighthouse Church of Chicago is an inclusive predominately African American LGBT church. Esteem Awards honorees will receive their awards at the Church's Fifth Annual Black Gay Pride Worship Service Brunch.
Local Chicago, as well as national activists and organizations, will be honored. The nationally recognized comedian Sampson McCormick will not only receive an award but will also perform.
Lighthouse Church is located at 2335 N Orchard Street in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago. The event is free and ample parking is available.
Owen Keehnen
has had his fiction, essays, erotica, reviews, columns, and interviews appear in dozens of magazines and anthologies worldwide.His books include Dugan's Bistro and the Legend of the Bearded Lady, Tell Me About It with St Sukie de la Croix, The LGBTQ Book of Days and A Place for Us: LGBTQ Life at the Belmont Rocks.
With the Windy City Times co-founder Tracy Baim, Owen co-authored, the Chicago LGBT historical biographies including Leatherman: The Legend of Chuck Renslow, Jim Flint: The Boy From Peoria, and Vernita Gray: From Woodstock to The White House.
He’s a co-founder of the Legacy Project. The Legacy Project was inspired the first time the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was shown at the National March on Washington for LGBT Civil Rights in 1987. Chicago's Legacy Project celebrated the LGBTQ community by installing the first of its kind “Rainbow Pylon” streetscape, This Legacy Walk is a dynamic outdoor LGBTQ history exhibit. Every year on National Coming Out Day new plaques are added. The pylons are to be named the first multi-block LGBTQ landmark in the world.
Owen is a frequent speaker on LGBTQ history and has chaired several panels for the Out at CHM, the Chicago History Museum series.
Rev. Dr. Selma Massey was reared on the west side of Detroit as a Christian Scientist. It taught her a great deal including a mindset to think of God first.
When her mother discovered Massey was gay, she rebuked and rejected her. That rejection ripped her to her core.
After graduating from High School, she attended the University of Detroit Mercy receiving her bachelor’s in sociology and master’s degrees in Student Personnel Work. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in two and a half years because she didn’t know it couldn’t be done.
Massey went on to earn a doctorate degree in education from Western Michigan University. She then began to work in the mental health and corrections fields. While the work had its rewards, it eventually lost its appeal. In 1966 she left that profession to learn more about God..
While serving as assistant pastor of Full Truth Fellowship of Christ Church, she began to envision having her own ministry,
Whosoever Ministry has had several homes - at the YWCA building in Detroit until the it closed, in the Detroit suburb of in Birmingham , and at the Detroit Ecumenical Theological Seminary near downtown Detroit. After becoming a part of the United Church of Christ, Whosever Ministry found its home on Chalfonte Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
The congregation expressed a desire to develop a virtual museum containing pictures, images and keepsake items that highlight LGBTQ lives. The project will be known as the American Museum of LGBTQ History. Phase one of this project is in the works. A preview of what is to come will be available on the Whosoever Ministry website this fall.
Phase two of the museum project is scheduled to preview in the summer of 2021. Eventually there will be a physical location in Detroit, a Welcome Center, for visitors and travelers
Walter Naegle was the partner of the American Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin and is executive director of the Bayard Rustin Fund,]which commemorates Rustin's life, values, and legacy.
Naegle’s commitment to civil rights began long before he met Rustin. During high school in the 1960s, he became interested in the African American struggle for civil rights and social justice, particularly with its commitment to nonviolence as the means to bring about democratic change.
He met Bayard Rustin in April 1977. They were on the same corner waiting for the light to change. After a few months, the two became steady partners. He moved in with Rustin who resided in the Mutual Redevelopment Houses (Penn South).
Because same sex marriage was illegal at the time, Rustin legally adopted Naegle in 1982. The two were together for 10 years until Rustin's death in 1987.
On November 20, 2013, Naegle accepted the Medal of Freedom from President Obama in honor of Rustin's work of 1963 March on Washington He and Sally Ride's partner were the first LGBT partners to accept the award for their late partners.
Naegle has spoken truth to power his entire life- modeling non-violence as a way of life, advocating for prisoners & GI rights and co-authoring many important books about the Civil Rights struggle.
May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Taissa Morimoto is a member of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community. She has experienced instances of microaggressions, harassment and being bullied as an East Asian woman and a queer woman.
She received her bachelor’s degrees and J.D. from the University of Florida, where she represented survivors of intimate partner violence and led workshops on civil rights restoration. She moved to Washington, DC to work in public policy. During her first year in DC, she worked simultaneously at the Task Force and at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) as a policy research fellow.
Taissa currently works on criminal and economic justice, democracy, and census advocacy as policy counsel at the National LGBTQ Task Force( NGLTF).
She has explored the dangers of the for-profit prison industry and the impact of a recent Supreme Court decision which may help reverse this trend. She has also done work related to reproductive justice including around sex ed policy and how it impacts LGBTQ youth. Taissa works with the Task Force’s ongoing efforts to Queer the Census. The Task Force has been advocating for nearly 30 years to make sure LGBTQ people are added to the Census and other federal surveys
When Taissa attended the day-long racial institute for LGBTQI AAPI at Creating Change in 2017 she recognized how similar her experiences were to others.
The Rev. Dr. Julie Nemecek is originally from Chicago but Michigan has been home for many years. She and her wife have been married for 47 years with three married sons and seven grandchildren.
In 2007 she made national news when she was fired from Spring Arbor University when she came out as a transgender professor. While at Spring Arbor University Julie led the university into online education, developed three graduate programs, and was recognized internationally as an expert in adult education. She left the University after a mediated settlement of her EEOC complaint.
In 2008 Julie was appointed co-executive director for the LGBT civil rights organization Michigan Equality. She was the first transgender person to serve as executive director for a statewide civil rights organization
She has spoken at numerous colleges and universities as well as dozens of churches. Julie has served on three national boards working for LGBTQ equality including National PFLAG board of directors
Julie is currently serving on the board of Outwords, the first-ever national project to document the remarkable evolution of the LGBTQ community over the past several decades, through on-camera interviews with the people who led, participated in, or simply witnessed it. She and her wife are featured in the soon to be released collection of the stories of 75 leaders and activists on the front lines of the LGBTQ movement, from the 1960’s to the present in “The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed The World” a stunning collection of interviews and compelling black and white photographs.
Todd Ross currently lives in Toronto. He served in the Canadian Navy from 1987 till 1990 when he was released for being gay. As a young sailor, he was investigated by the military police. The investigation lasted 18-months and when he finally admitted that he was gay, he was released with an honorable discharge.
In 2016, he joined two other former soldiers to launch a lawsuit against the Canadian government and on November 28, 2017, the government of Canada settled the class action lawsuit. The settlement was on the same day Prime Minister Trudeau made the historic apology to LGBTQ2 people in Canada. As part of the settlement, a $25 million reconciliation and memorialization fund was established. Todd serves as the Vice-Chair of this fund.
He is Métis and is the President of the Toronto and York Region Métis Council (The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people in Canada).
We’ve all heard the old adage that “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” For many in the LGBTQ community in the United States, the other side of the fence has been Canada. LGBTQ2 rights in Canada are some of the most advanced in the Americas and in the world. But is the grass really greener north of the border.
Todd talks about life in Canada as a member of the LGBTQ community – the good, the bad, the real and lessons we can all learn from our neighbors to the north.
Kevin Terrell Heard is President of the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
In 2013, Heard founded the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
As President, he secured a $10,000 grant from the Community Foundations of Southeast Michigan, Hope Fund and an additional $2,500 from the Wells Fargo Rainbow Supplier Program. That increased membership and engagement with over 50 companies. Currently, the chamber has grown to have nine corporate partners and over 70 members.
In May 2017, Kevin was honored as one of Crain’s Detroit Twenty in their 20’s for his work with the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce and lead of Pride Forward USA Today Network LGBTQ Employee Resource Group.
The Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce is hosting Ford Globe's 25th Anniversary Dinner on Thursday, June 6th, 2019 at the Dearborn Inn. Ford GLOBE is an Employee Resource Group within Ford Motor Company for it's LGBTQ and ally employees. The night will feature keynote speaker Wade Davis. The VIP reception for this event was sold out shortly after tickets went on saleHElives by the quote “You are greatest when everything before you is obsolete and everything after bares your mark.” His strong work ethic and spirituality keep him moving because he says, “success is not standing still.”
Shortly after graduating from FAMU, Sharon Harris was diagnosed with Lupus. She not only lives with Lupus but thrives and provides support and encouragement for others living with this chronic autoimmune disease. Sharon says she didn’t wake up one morning after graduating from college and say she wanted to start a non-profit organization about this disease. She wanted to be Oprah! But apparently, God had a different plan.”
Rosetta “Rosie” Shaw is from Detroit. In 2005 she had to travel to San Diego, California for surgery related to complications from LUPUS. There wasn’t any organization to help this young mother and her young son. Back in Detroit a few years later she was introduced to Sharon Harris and Lupus Detroit and she found a village of survivors there to support her emotionally and spiritually.
Lupus Detroit believes that no Lupus Warrior should have to decide between purchasing their medication and buying food or providing for their families. Everyone needs assistance from time to time. Lupus Detroit offers emergency financial assistance grants in addition to awareness and advocacy events.
The 7th Annual Lupus Detroit Brunch takes place Saturday, May 18th. This fundraiser is one of the activities that allow Lupus Detroit to continue serving the community. With no paid staff or offices, to date Lupus Detroit has been able to give over $60,000 to assist Lupus Warriors with expenses incurred due to complications from the disease.
Mary Anne Adams is Founder and Executive Director of ZAMI NOBLA the National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging a service, advocacy and community-based research organization for Black lesbians 40 years old and older.
She founded and developed the Audre Lorde Scholarship Fund, an international fund that awarded over $250,000 in scholarship monies and expenses to out LGBT scholars of color of all ages from 1997-2008. In 2015, the Scholarship fund redirected its focus to award funds only to Black lesbians and lesbians of color over 40 years of age attending accredited academic institutions in the United States.
Adams received her B.A. in Sociology and Social Work from the University of Mississippi and a master’s in social work from Georgia State University.
A twelve-year breast cancer survivor, Mary Anne served as an inaugural member of the LGBT National Advisory Council for Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. In 2018, she was awarded an achievement award by the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association for promoting equality in healthcare for LGBTQ people.
Adams has served on the boards of several organizations and was an inaugural member of the LGBT Advisory Council to the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta as well as one of the founding members of the Atlanta Black LGBT Coalition.
Although her focus has been on the African American lesbian community, she uses her seat at the table to also advocate for other marginalized groups. Adams has served as Director of the Community Engagement Core within the Center of Excellence for Health Disparities Research in GSU’s School of Public Health. She has directed multiple research projects at both Emory and GSU since the 1990’s.
In all her activities Mary Anne Adams promotes social justice, human rights and social/health equity access through education, advocacy, public policy and research, resource development and multi-generational building.
Carter Brown is the founder and director of Black Trans Men Inc. and the BTAC – The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.
On April 2nd he testified before the 116th Congressional House Judiciary Committee advocating for the Equality Act.
Despite significant steps forward, LGBTQ people lack basic legal protections in all 50 states across the country. If approved by Congress, the Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections for members of the LGBTQ community.
Carter was living the American dream. He not only excelled in his career but bought a home and settled down with his wife and newborn daughter in Texas. All of that changed in an instant when Carter was outed by his colleagues as transgender. What followed was months of discrimination and harassment by his peers, managerial staff and even human resources. Brown was ultimately fired simply because of who he is.
Along with several other individuals from the LGBTQ community, He told his story at the hearings explaining how not only his life but the lives of LGBTQ Americans in 30 states are affected by discrimination because they lack protection from discrimination simply because of who they love.
Ironically these hearings opened on the same day that three lesbians were elected Mayor of their respective cities, including Lori Lightfoot the first African American woman and openly lesbian mayor of Chicago and a ban on Transgender persons serving in the military goes is enacted affecting the lives of Trans men. women and their famiies.
While advocating for the Equality Act, Carter and BTAC are in the midst of planning for the 8th Annual BTAC Conference taking place in Dallas, Texas April 23 – 28th. The theme of this 8th annual conference is Level Up: Elevate the Revolution. This year's conference is on track to be attended by the greatest number of participants to date.
Activist, advocate, leading salesperson, councilwoman, she's been called many things in her lifetime but "Your Honor" is something Beth Bashert is still getting used to.
In 1993 she and her wife Lisa were the first lesbian couple to have an engagement announcement in The Ann Arbor News. At the ceremony later that year, they legally took the name Bashert (meaning “destined, meant to be”) a new family name for both. When the window opened up five years ago for same-gender loving couples in Michigan to be legally married the Basherts joined the 300 couples who took advantage of that window.
Already a member of Ypsilanti’s City Council, in 2018 Bashert ran for and won the mayoral race with 63 percent of the vote. She ran on a platform that advocated for changing the city’s budget, bringing back services and increasing development.
She is the recipient of many awards including Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, Living Pride Award from Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project, Political Action Award from PFLAG and the Gay & Lesbian Pride Award.
Being both the Mayor of a small city and a leading salesperson at a local family owned car dealership is hectic and exciting nut Beth Bashert manages to do both working and talking with people about their needs at both. It turns out serving people does not change much even in different environments.
She has focused on serving people long before taking on either of these roles.
In 1999, she was selected as the founding President of Michigan Equality an organization designed to identify, educate and mobilize voters to help further equality for LGBT people in Michigan. She was the first Director of Fund Development for the Ruth Ellis Center serving LGBTQ youth including many who were homeless.
Each year the National Friendship Movement hosts a Friendship Reunion at a different city, This year the 38Th Friendship Reunion will be held in Detroit, MI April 19-21st.
Joining Collections by Michelle Bown on Thursday, April 4th is Jamila Kafi Sudduth, Secretary of The National Friendship Movement and member of the Detroit Friendship Network.
The Friendship Movement started at a cocktail party on Easter Sunday, in 1981. From this party, the National Friendship Movement developed focusing on friendship, social responsibility, and committed individuals.
In recent years, The National Friendship Movement has expanded its influence by selecting and supporting a local LGBT-friendly organization in the city where the reunion is being held. It also holds workshops on topics of interest.
Jamila grew up in the movement. One of her two mothers was president of the Detroit chapter. After attending a reunion, she decided to become actively involved with the organization. and now holds executive positions locally and nationally in the National Friendship Movement.
"Doin the D" this year' reunion will take place at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Downtown Detroit. Besides workshops and programs for attendees, the Reunion will have evening events open to the public. Tickets for these events can be purchased separately and include on Friday night "Nuttin Butta House Partay," Saturday night " POSE with the House of Friendship" and the closing night gala Sunday featuring the legendary songstress Melba Moore.
Underneath her quiet demeanor, Jamila has a thunderous passion for the Arts, Culture, and Design. She and the NFM family are looking forward to sharing a love of Detroit with members of The National Friendship Movement.
Adrienne Maree Brown's writing style has been said to belong to the Afro-Futurism genre. In 2010, she published the Octavia Butler Strategic Reader with Alexis Pauline Gumbs. She is the author of Emergent Strategy and the recently released Pleasure Activism, and she’s the Co-editor of Octavia's Brood. Adrienne's also the co-host of How to Survive the End of the World podcast, a lifelong facilitator, doula and auntie living in Detroit.
She has worked extensively with numerous organizations on social justice. Following college, she worked with the Harm Reduction Coalition in Brooklyn and started working as a social justice facilitator. She would go on to facilitate the World Social Forum, an annual meeting of civil society organizations, and work with social justice organizations in Detroit. In 2006, she served as a consultant with Detroit Summer "a multicultural, intergenerational collective" that "worked to transform communities through youth leadership, creativity, and collective action from the ground up" where she developed a strong relationship with the late activist Grace Lee Boggs.
Adrienne has worked with the Allied Media Conference as a host and facilitator. In 2018 she Founded, the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute a hub to experiment, think, facilitate, learn, and share emergent strategy. ESII exists to help groups, organizations, and movements bring these principles into their work through facilitation and training.
Perle Noire, the Queen Mother of Burlesque was born to perform. Named one of the top performers in the world, she is truly a goddess. To watch her is an experience!
She began singing, dancing and acting as a child when she landed a McDonald’s commercial and a role on the Cosby Show.
In 2008, she burst onto the burlesque scene winning the Best Debut category during the annual Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend in Las Vegas. She has been named one of the world’s top five burlesque performers by 21st Century Burlesque Magazine three years in a row. After spending several years as a cast member in Dita Von Teese’s popular “Strip, Strip Hooray,” Perle went on to complete a stint in Velvet – a musical starring Australian disco diva and superstar Marcia Hines.
Perle has performed her signature blend of sultry, athletic and captivating dance in numerous venues throughout the world including the Crowne Casino in Melbourne, The Waltz in Tokyo, Teatro Circo in Madrid and the Koko in London. She has also graced stages in the Bahamas, Milan, Helsinki, Auckland, Sydney, New York, and Los Angeles.
Drawing inspiration from the great Josephine Baker, Perle is also a multi-talented businesswoman who constantly challenges herself with new ventures including an upcoming line of cosmetics and a series of performance/dance classes known as Perlesque.
She is also a gifted instructor and her workshops sell out in a matter of hours. She encourages her followers and those attending her classes to lose the weight of self-doubt, distorted views of your power, and memories that no longer serve you. She encourages everyone to believe that glamour, opulence, and opportunities belong to you and to Stop downplaying your light, talent, and desires.
She says she is paying respect to all the black women who went through the back door so she may sashay through the front.
Karen Williams is a trailblazer in the world of LGBTQ comedy.
graduated summa cum laude from Cleveland State University with a personally-designed major in “Humor and Healing” and also received a Master of Education degree from the University’s Adult Learning & Development program.
As a single lesbian mother living in Berkeley in the 1980’s she started doing stand-up comedy because it was something, she could do that didn’t cost her anything. She was featured in the award-winning comedy/documentary “We’re Funny That Way” and was a 1999 Glama Award nominee for her comedy CD “Human Beings: What a Concept”
She’s worked as a comedy writer, has performed at venues around the country and is a regularly featured artist on Olivia Cruise Lines. Karen has taught Stand-Up Comedy in the Dramatic Arts department of Cleveland State University. She is the creator of the Humor-At-Large workshop series and founder of the National Women’s Comedy Conference.
She founded HaHA Institute in the late 1980s.
The mission of the International Institute of Humor and Healing Arts aka HaHA Institute e is to encourage the fullest and highest activation of human potential for compassion, wisdom, and life force through the daily use of humor and healing arts, which includes stress management, nutrition, exercise, massage and healing touch, aromatherapy, and spiritual practices.
The institute has been run virtually but now Karen is ready to bring HaHA Institute from its virtual home to a brick and motor location in Cleveland's new LGBTQ Community Center this summer.
He's a self-described left-leaning independent, a diehard Cubs fan, Activist, Community Organizer, and Madonna Fan. Smart, funny, insightful and outspoken, Ken Mejia-Beal returns to talk about current events.
From the midterms to the Oscars and all things politically Chicago, Ken brings is unique insight not just "sipping but spilling" the tea!
Ken Mejia-Beal is first and foremost an activist and a supporter of the underdog. He is a concerned citizen, who cares deeply for his country and wants to make the world a better place for all people.
Ken is a member of the Democratic National Committee a Political Strategist and Organizer for several candidates over the last 5 years
He is a contributing editor at Dem Write Press which was created to shine a spotlight on corruption and buttress American democracy. His “Chronicles of an Outsider” series explores his journey as an everyday American who happens to be African American and a member of the LGBTQ community.
This Chicago native is a capitalist with a heart who believes in free thinking and human rights. Ken wants to use his words in order to shine a light on political ventures in order to allow those without knowledge to form strong positions.
Steven G. Fullwood was the archivist who founded the “In The Life Archive” at the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, a part of the New York Public library.
Originally from Toledo, Ohio, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in English and Communications from the University of Toledo and his master’s in library science from Clark University in Atlanta.
As a writer, His published works include Black Gay Genius: Answering Joseph Beam's Call (co-edited by Charles Stephens), To Be Left with the Body, (co-edited by Cheryl Clarke), and Carry the Word: A Bibliography of Black LGBTQ Books (co-edited by Lisa C. Moore).
His Nomadic Archivist Project documents and preserves the African Diasporic experience. This initiative partners with organizations, institutions, and individuals to establish, preserve, and enhance collections. Fullwood lives to document the history of people of African descent. He believes it is a privilege to do so for many good reasons: primarily, doing so allows him to pay the appropriate respect to people of African descent in Africa, as well as in the African diaspora.
Fullwood is also the Vice President of Fire & Ink. Fire & Ink is recognized as the most influential supporter and advocate for GLBT writers of African descent. He is currently at work on his first film short, Timothy, or Timothy to the Future. This vérité-styled documentary follows Timothy DuWhite, a 27-year-old black, gay, HIV + poet as he rehearses his first one-man show, Neptune, a story about where the unloved go to find love.
Kylar W. Broadus is an attorney, activist, public speaker, and former professor.
He is the founder of the Trans People of Color Coalition (TPOCC). Trans People of Color Coalition exists to advance justice for all trans people of color by amplifying trans stories, supporting leadership, and challenging issues of racism, transphobia, and transmisogyny,
After he announced his gender transition while working at a major financial institution, he was “constructively discharged.” When he lost his job, he thought that there MUST be laws that protect individuals when they are discriminated against. After filing a lawsuit in federal court, though, he learned quickly that transgender people weren’t covered under any discrimination laws. This propelled him to want to make sure that there were laws that protected others in the transgender community as well as gender non-conforming people of color.
In 2012 Kylar made history by becoming the first openly transgender person to testify before the U.S. Senate. He was speaking on behalf of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
He was awarded the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Sue J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement and the Pioneer Award at the Transfaith of Color Conference presented by the Freedom Center of Social Justice.
He has served on the boards of the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Stonewall Democrats, is a founding board member of a national think tank, The Transgender Law and Policy Institute.
Karren Kendra Holmes is a Transgender Activist. Community Service has been a big part of her life before and after her transition to living her authentic life as a woman.
She’s a member of The Maryland Defense Force, a volunteer military organization supporting the Maryland National Guard.
In 2012 she received "Soldier of the Year" from the Maryland State Guard Association and The Maryland Defense Force. In 2013, out of 24 states and 23 thousand soldiers, she was named "Soldier of the Year" by the State Guard Association of the United.
Since 2010 she has received multiple awards for her community service including the Willis Greene community service award in 2014. The Award is named after a man who gave back tirelessly to his community This award is presented to individuals who personify this commitment by making significant contributions to community service. Before her transition, she had received several awards for community service including her first the Willis Greene award in 2003.
She has given a TED Talk on her transition from Tony to Karen. In 2017 she was selected in the LGBTQ Nation Bilerico Report as one of The Top 50 Successful Transgender Americans You Should Know, and in 2018 was selected by Capital Pride for Heroes Gala Awards for "Engendered Spirit Award.”
Karen has much to share with the transgender and LGBTQ communities. She believes together we can help quiet the turmoil within that suggest we're different. We are not different, and we need to continuously express how we are more alike than not.
Originally from Detroit, MI Charzette has been recognized for her positive portrayals of people whom mainstream media has tried to marginalize. . She received her B.F.A in Fine Art Photography from the College for Creative Studies. She was selected as an Artist-in-Residence at the world-renowned Maine Photography Workshop. A native New Yorker Danielle grew up in the Bronx during the early days of Hip Hop. Danielle is a musician in her own right. She started playing drums at the age of six and expanded her musical talents to playing other instruments including guitar, bass, saxophone, and keyboards. Together they started their own music production company “DeeJay & Cats Production."
In 2010 Chazette started transitioning from photography into becoming a filmmaker. Danielle also caught the filmmaking bug. They both wanted to learn as much as they could about films.
Their first project as content creators was “Jillian’s Peak.” Jillian’s Peak depicts African American lesbians and LGBTQI as positive realistic people and is inspired by Charzette’s life as a lesbian.
2018 was a phenomenal year taking them to new places, looking at the world through their unique lens and introducing new audiences to their artistry. Coming into the homestretch, they share the knowledge about business and filmmaking along the way.
Partners in love, art, and production, this dynamic duo stays on the go bringing life to LGBTQ culture.
Moon OneLuv is a Detroit original – an African American vocalist, actress, storyteller, and Trans Activist.
Born Erica Shantel Carter, she has a unique sound drawing from personal experience and blending an extremely visual appearance and a dramatic flair with a charismatic presence that draws in her audience into each performance. She has been profoundly inspired by the rich musical climate that Detroit has to offer, and it shows in the diversity of her music.
As an actress, she is known for her role as Zunay in the 2016 film “Black Petunia” – a dystopian story about a corrupt government that is erasing people’s memories through contaminated drinking water.
An activist in the transgender community Carter has shared the story of her transition speaking openly on how she has embraced her identity knowing the stigma that surrounds trans women. Her message is that there needs to be more conversation involving trans women, that they need a seat at the table and need to be present in more workspaces.
In 2016, Carter took to the stage as part of the Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers. The topic was “JUSTICE!"Moon One Luv shares the story of an incident where she had been faced with transphobic discrimination in a Black-owned business. What is Justice and the many factors affecting her decision and the outcomes put her directly in the crosshairs of her intersectionality as an African American, a Transwoman, an African American and a member of the LGBTQ community with wisdom and grace.
What does the A stand for in your LGBTQA community? For Nathan William Brown it can stand for Ability or Asexuality and Ally.
Nathan is a peer mentor in the community mental health field. Being a peer mentor is a lot different than your typical caseworker/client relationship. Peer Mentors are advocates who have been through the system themselves and know what it is like. They work with the individual to help them learn how to advocate for themselves and become more independent.
He recently organized LGBTQ Abilities to help serve the needs of LGBTQ people with disabilities. LGBTQ Abilities is an advocacy and support organization for LGBTQ individuals who are differently-abled and struggled to find real support for our communities. The purpose of LGBTQ Abilities is to bridge the gap between the LGBTQ communities and the disability communities.
LGBTQ Abilities will provide advocacy to build networks to connect the LGBTQA and the Disability community, as well as helping create supports within the community while helping all communities be fully inclusive
Nathan is on the autism spectrum and has struggled for years with his mental health, including battling severe depression and anxiety disorders. He also identifies as a Pan-romantic Grey-Asexual, which means he can be romantically attracted to people of all genders, but not sexually attracted to others. Many are just hearing about the Asexual community and because of lack of information or misinformation, individuals identifying as Asexual are stigmatized similar to those who are differently-abled.
LGBTQ Abilities offers support group exclusively for LGBTQ individuals as well as a support group for these individuals’ partners, family, and allies.
Phoebe Hopps became an accidental activist, tiptoeing into politics after the 2016 presidential election by simply creating a website for Michigan women interested in attending the Women’s March on Washington.
Originally from Smithtown, New York, she has called Michigan home for over six years. Phoebe studied Business Management at Marymount Manhattan College then went on to study Project Management at New York University. She traded a career in project management and global travel to dedicate herself full-time to community organizing.
She organized thousands of women and their allies who took more than 100 buses from around the state to Washington, for the 2017 Women’s March. A few weeks after the 2017Women's March she partnered with other organizations to stage a massive protest at Detroit Metro Airport.
Phoebe’s focus is on social justice, civil rights, racial equity, access to healthcare and environmental protection as she prepares for the 2019 march. Participation in women's marches is an affirmation of the worth and dignity of all women and their families.
Roland Leggett is smart, strategic, politically savvy, suave and oh so dapper. This nationally recognized movement leader joins Collections by Michelle Brown-Blog Radio on Thursday, January 10th to share his over two decades of social justice advocacy and management experience
He’s worked as an organizer with Obama for America, with the Detroit Branch of the ACLU, Equality Michigan, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Working America and MI Time to Care. He's also an outspoken LGBT advocate serving on the LGBTQ and Allies Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party.
Through his consultancy firm "Roland Leggett Strategies" he works at building inclusive communities and making the tradition from artist to activist right here in Detroit
Why Detroit? Roland believes it’s because there’s unlimited potential for innovation here. If you are dedicated, if you are responsible, and if you are thoughtful in the way you plan things, you can make incredible things happen here.
Kim has over 20 years’ experience working with grassroots, community-based, and national nonprofit organizations. Her work has been intergenerational.
She’s been engaged with the Third Wave Fund ensuring young women, queer, and trans youth of color have the tools and resources they need to lead powerful movements, and that they have a seat at the table within philanthropy. She’s worked with GRIOT Circle Inc.; In Our Own Voices. a community-based, multigenerational organization serving LGBTQ elders of color.
Her work has crossed boundaries working with many organizations including Fierce!!, Stonewall Community Foundation’s Racial Equity Initiative; Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues; and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.
She has worked with pioneering organizations and is the co-founder of Beyond Bold & Brave, Black Lesbian Conference 2016 and 2018; and founder of Kitchen Table Giving Circle: A Black/African Descent Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Women Philanthropic Initiative.
She has facilitated workshops; moderated and spoken at events, panels and readings; presented on various topics including organizing in the LGBTQ POC communities, racism within LGBTQ communities, women’s health and wellness, and sexuality.
She is now focusing her energies in a new direction making a commitment to invest in herself. As a health and fitness coach, she uses her journey to assist and motivate others to find Mind Body and soul balance.
The National Conference for LGBT Equality: Creating Change is the premier annual event of the National LGBTQ Task Force.
Creating Change was started in 1988, one year after the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay rights. The message of the 1987 March was clear: go home and get to work. It was because of this message that the Task Force soon found itself deluged with requests for resources, advice, and assistance. In order to deal with all these requests, they started a national organizing and training conference that organizers and activists could gather and teach each other – and build a stronger movement. The name of that conference was Creating Change.
Today, Creating Change has grown to over 3,500 attendees from all over the country, and from all walks of life. And it’s getting bigger every year. The five-day program will be held at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center January 23rd to 29th. A host committee working with dedicated task Force staff work tirelessly to put together the schedule.
These activities have been led in part by host committee co-chair Bridie Mae Johnson and the Task Force’s Director of Creating Change Andy Garcia.
Andy joined the Task Force in May 2018 taking over the conference from Sue Hyde who had served the Task Force since 1986, overseeing a range of initiatives in addition to the Creating Change Conference. Bridie Mae Johnson is a licensed social worker who grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. With Native American, Caucasian and African American lineage, Johnson brings a unique perspective to all. She draws upon her roots to build spaces where diversity and inclusion can flourish.
Michelle Regalado Deatrick is a poet, a community advocate and an elected official. She lives with her family on an 80-acre farm in southeast Michigan, where she cares for a large organic garden, an orchard and a 20-acre native prairie surrounded by stands of native trees.
An activist for the environment, small farm rights, women and fair wages she has served as Vice Chair of the Washtenaw County Commission.
In 2017 and 2018, she was a lead organizer of the Women's March in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In October 2018, she was co-organizer of the Stand with Survivors Rally and March, a response to the Supreme Court nomination of Brent Kavanaugh also in Ann Arbor.
In 2018 Deatrick ran for State Senate stating she was running for State Senator because we need a leader who believes that politics should be about people, not profit. Deatrick narrowly lost her primary race for Michigan State Senate-District 18 but continues her commitment by working with Michigan One Fair Wage
Michigan One Fair Wage has a mission to make sure that every working person in Michigan can take of themselves and their family.
This former Peace Corps volunteer is also an educator and award-winning poet.
Originally from Brooklyn, New York Betty Couvertier called the Atlanta area home for many years. Now in retirement, she travels between Georgia and Florida RVing with her dogs.
This year her travels gave her a unique perspective of two of the more interesting elections in Georgia and Florida.
She witnessed first hand some of the challenges voters had in Georgia. She had to get involved with the postal service and election officials to locate her absentee ballot so her vote would be counted.
She joins us to share her experiences and observations on the politics, the candidates and what’s next from her unique perspective. An advocate for grassroots activism, Couvertier believes politicians at all levels must be held accountable. She sees the end of patriarchy on the horizon and a future that will be led by women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community.
Couvertier was the founder, producer and host of “Alternative Perspectives,” an LGBT radio show that continues to air on WRFG “Radio Free Georgia” a community-owned and operated station. She has served in various capacities on a number of non-profit organizations over the years in the Atlanta area and is the recipient of many awards for her service to the community.
Aundaray Guess has worked in service to the LGBTQ community for 20 years. He is currently the Deputy Director for GRIOT Circle and the Site Manager for the partnership between GRIOT Circle and SAGE USA.
Gay Reunion In Our Time, GRIOT Circle was founded as an informal gathering of elders and was officially recognized as a nonprofit in 1996. GRIOT Circle remains the only organization exclusively dedicated to serving the needs of elder LGBTQ people of color.
He helped create and design, ‘Still Standing’, an interactive presentation in which older adults discuss living with HIV. This is a community-wide program and recently was conducted in additional states including New Jersey and California. He also helped create “joy of Intimacy”, a program similar to “Still Standing” that provides an older adult female perspective of living with HIV.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University in Media Studies as well as a Master of Science in Public Relations and Corporate Communications. In addition to completing his studies, Guess is a contributing writer for the Huffington Post and a regularly featured writer for Poz Magazine.
As a writer and actor he has acted in several productions. His last work was a one-man play called, “Naked”, a lens on what it means to be black, gay and a man.
A credited freelance writer, editor, contributor, and essayist, Sara E. Teller is also a novelist and poet with over seventeen years of experience. She has an MBA degree with a concentration in Marketing and is currently pursuing an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, concentrating in Substance Abuse and Addictions.
Her latest book, Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide was published by Mad Hatter Publishing released in December 2017.
Narcissism, as a positive personality trait, is something many people may have. This can be healthy for people but it is very different from full-blown narcissistic behavior and disorders. In her book "Narcissistic Abuse: A Survival Guide", Teller highlights and sheds light on Narcissism as an inherent humanistic trait versus pathological narcissism, Victimization, and the healing process and Therapeutic intervention and relief. Abuse can take many forms with or without a narcissist.
Narcissistic Abuse is real and potentially life-threatening. Physical, mental, and emotional abuse are all part of the Narcissist's bag of abusive tricks and can have a lifelong impact on you and everyone in your household. If you or someone you know is caught in this situation, this survival guide can help you break free and survive. For therapist, counselors, or others involved in the recovery process, this book brings insight into the inner workings of the abusive narcissistic relationship.
Sara brings to bear her life experience combined with her intellectual and academic studies and presents a thorough reference book addressing the real need to identify Narcissistic Abuse, create a survival strategy and find therapeutic relief from the aftereffect.
Born in Buffalo NY, singer/songwriter Sandy Mulligan took the scenic route to the metro -Detroit area – raised in Iowa, living in Alabama, New Jersey and as an artist in the mountains of West Virginia.
Although she’s been an artist and singer/songwriter she’s also always been an activist involved in organizing Latino Farmworkers and active in the Catholic church at a time when women were not supposed to be involved in church activities.
Sandy began her art career at an LGBTQ artist colony in West Virginia making melted glass art, stained glass, fresco paintings, mobiles, plaques, and walking sticks. She sold her work throughout West Virginia and eventually in the Washington DC area.
Sandy fell in love with Michigan and moved here 10 years ago. Her daughter, who is also a musician, encouraged her to resume her music career in earnest. Her solo career eventually led to her founding a group called The Gypsies. The group performed over 100 gigs in 5 years. They were a finalist in the Detroit Blues Society competition.
Sandy continues to perform as a solo artist and with her daughter. She was chosen as one of a dozen women to sing the blues at the “Blues Girls of Summer.” Sandy was nominated for an outstanding woman’s award and won an award with her daughter for their contributions to the Detroit music scene.
Brayden Asher Misiolek is of co-founder/ Executive Director of Transcend the Binary, an organization that seeks to empower the transgender and gender non-conforming community through access to affirming care, resources, research, and education.
Recently Brayden joined other members of the TLGBQ community and allies to speak out against continued efforts against T/GNC individuals.Brayden dedicates his service to Transcend the Binary in honor of the organization's co-Founder Darnell Jones saying “I made a promise to Darnell, and my community, to make sure that Transcend continues to grow – from our resources, program quality, research and understanding of our community
The current administration has rescinded antidiscrimination protections for transgender students, reversed a Bureau of Prisons policy that would take gender identity into account in housing assignments, attempted to ban transgender service members from the military and argued that transgender workers are not covered by Title VII protections against discrimination in the workplace. A leaked HHS memo proposes defining an individual’s sex as “a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” and that “the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”
Transcend the Binary staff are available for those seeking services such as hormone counseling, medical referrals, youth and family support, fitness and nutrition counseling, and more – all of which are provided free of charge.
Originally from Sri Lanka, Rashika grew up with her mother and three sisters in Texas. She grew up learning how to balance her Sri Lankan heritage and cultural expectations with her American sensibilities and upbringing and proudly own both of identities
She attended The University of Texas at Austin, where she studied anthropology and pre-medical studies. Rashika believes proudly embracing both identities has contributed to the way she goes about trying to make a positive difference in the world.
She did her first tour of duty at the Human Rights Campaign as the Development Coordinator. She worked on fundraising and community outreach projects. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) represents a grassroots force of more than 1.5 million members and supporters nationwide. It is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.
In 2016, she joined the Peace Corps. Established in 1961 the Peace Corps was established to promote world peace and friendship. Rashika served as a Community Health Volunteer in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. During service with the Peace Corp, her work focused on maternal and child health, HIV prevention education, girls’ empowerment, and youth development.
After leaving the Peace Corp, Rashika rejoined the Human Rights Campaign. This time as a Volunteer Leadership Organizer with the HRC Rising program—their largest grassroots expansion that focuses on accelerating progress and supporting pro-equality candidates and initiatives.
Rashika believes working at HRC, she is part of a community that celebrates her intersectional perspective as a woman of color and an immigrant and empowers her to be a change agent to challenge stigmas, support other LGBTQ Asian Americans, and push the fight for equality forward
A 30-year civil servant with more than a decade of hands-on experience in the risk management field, she has authored four books.
Her book “Enterprise Risk Management: A Guide for Government Professionals” was on the Amazon Top 100 List.
She received a Best-Selling Author award for her book "Mastering the Art of Success" which she co-authored with Jack Canfield (co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul).
This native Washingtonian earned her Doctor of Education degree from Nova Southeastern University. She is a graduate of Strayer University where she earned her master’s in business administration. She studied Media Arts and Journalism and earned her bachelor’s degree from Hampton University.
Her latest endeavor is co-producing the documentary "A New Leash On Life: The K9s for Warriors Story." The film focuses on Veterans with PTSD and the K9s that support them. The film has premiered in New York earlier this year, screens in Washington DC on October 26th and opens nationally on Veterans Day.
Dr. Hardy has a strong belief in servant leadership and believes the lessons she learned gave her the inspiration to be her best in whatever she sets her sights on.
Naomi Washington-Leapheart is the Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, the country’s oldest national LGBTQ justice and equality group. Before joining the Task Force, she was the suburban community organizer for POWER, a multi-faith, multi-racial network of congregations in Metro Philadelphia. She also served as Co-Pastor and Minister of Music at the Wisdom’s Table at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ.
Rev. Washington-Leapheart's work is included in the volume,” From Generation to Generation: A Commemorative Collection of African American Millennial Sermons from the Festival of Preachers 2010-2015, a rare and unique compilation of what the nation’s most promising young African-American ministers are thinking and proclaiming about the Christian faith.
An adjunct faculty member in the Theology and Religious Studies department at Villanova University, her class discussions have included zombie sci-fi, 2 biblical accounts of the walking 'undead,' Lazarus and Jesus, and the theological and practical assumptions we hold about life, death, and the space in-between.
She is affiliated with the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries and the United Church of Christ, and earned the Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary in 2016.
In an article in Philadelphia Magazine Gregory T. Walke. Founder and Creative Director of The Brothers Network, explained “It seems that many Americans, white, black and in between, view black men through a certain frame of reference that fails to acknowledge the totality of the black male experience. At the museum, the black man is the security guard rather than the person who created the works on the walls; at the theater, he is the usher rather than part of the action on the stage or the person behind that action.
And in the everyday world, the black men who do create works of art, who do write plays, and who love to talk about the ideas they advance, get confused for those guards and ushers.
Walker believes the hardest part is getting people to believe that MacArthur Genius Award winners, Tony Award winners, and winners of most every single honor have been held by a black man who is at the top of the game.
The Brother’s Network dismantles these assumptions. The organization specializes in bringing brainy black men together around arts and culture.The people who attend The Brothers’ Network programs form a new community, one in which they no longer feel isolated.
On October 12th The Brothers Network will celebrate its anniversary with a five-course dinner, awards ceremony and an opening night performance of “Sweat.” A play written by Lynn Nottage and directed by Justin Emeka.
The Brother’s Network is just one of the many ways Walker manifests his life goal to foster a sense of equanimity in our society and have all of us recognize the value in each of us.
Betty Couvertier returns to share her thoughts on the current political climate. A relentless, outspoken, authentic voice and alternative perspective for the LGBTQ community, she will share her observations from her travels as we move towards the all-important 2018 midterm elections.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY where she was a city corrections officer Betty Couvertier was a part of Atlanta, Georgia’s LGBTQ scene since the mid-1990s until her recent retirement. Betty volunteered at WRFG 89.3 FM, a non-profit community radio station, since 2002. She was the founder, producer and host of “Alternative Perspectives,” an LGBT radio show that airs on the community-owned and operated station from 2006 until 2017. She has served in various capacities on many non-profit organizations over the years including the Atlanta Pride Outreach Chair, Atlanta HRC Steering Committee, Co-chair of Georgians Against Discrimination Steering Committee and the Atlanta LGBT Police Advisory Board.
Her energy, compassion, insightfulness, and hard work has been an incredible asset in the fight for LGBTQ equality. Since retiring Betty keeps her eye on local and national political shenanigans, the LGBTQ community discovering more alternative perspectives as. she travels about the country in her RV with her dogs living out and proud on the road.
Yes, She’s back!!
John Collins began writing at the age of 15, keeping a small journal that held many questions surrounding his sexuality versus religious doctrine.
He was motivated by an English teacher who encouraged him to use his talent as a storyteller to capture a glimpse of the world through his own personal life experiences as a queer man of color.
The idea of writing a novel came about after he wrote a three-page essay illustrating the outcome of his parents discovering he was Same Gender Loving (SGL). He began the manuscript “Virgin to the Life” in early 2007. He self-published this work in 2013. His follow-up novel, “Sounds of Burned Silence”, was released in 2014. The third installment, “Poetic Violence”, added more depth to the series.
“God Ain’t Call Me Fag”, is his fourth book and a departure from the series. For many in the LGBTQ community, the relationship with religion has been at best complicated but often contentious. In “God Ain’t Call Me Fag”, Collins challenges the reader to look at this relationship by asking What do you look like to God? Free from what you’ve been called. Free from what you’ve been told to be. Free from the contradictory words of man versus God.
His literary work and activism seeks to promote self-love, by being honest, open and connected.
Originally from Detroit, MI John Collins now calls Atlanta, GA home. He is an author, activist, freelance writer, actor, playwright, and award-winning LGBTQ slam poet. He is a decorated Navy Combat Veteran who served 8 years Active duty and 6 years Active Reserve duty, before accepting an Honorable Discharge in September 2012.
Robt Seda-Schreiber is Chief Activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice in New Jersey.
Named for the civil rights leader who was the primary architect of the 1963 March on Washington, this community activist center is an educational enclave and a safe-space for all people. Robt established the Center with the explicit consent of Bayard Rustin’s partner, Walter Naegle, with a strong desire to ensure every individual- whether it be in a school, in a workplace, or in everyday life- feels safe, protected, & loved.
In June 2017 he was recognized as the National Education Association’s Social Justice Activist of the Year. In 2014 he received the New Jersey Education Association Equality Champion Award which honors members who have been champions in defense of human and civil rights. As an art teacher in the Kreps Middle School in East Windsor, New Jersey, Robt ran that school’s Gay-Straight Alliance. He believes it is important for students to have allies in the classroom if they are LGBTQ because the very existence of Gay-Straight Alliances saves lives every day, both literally and figuratively.
As Chief Activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, Robt has moved forward with his experience, knowledge, & passion, to bring his service to a greater platform—to serve & defend the LGBTQ community. His passion is in part driven by memories of a beloved uncle who was gay but couldn’t come out because his father wouldn’t have understood and as an adolescent, seeing these issues of identity, especially for youth, being shrouded in secrecy and instilling a sense of shame and wrongness on his peers.
Evangeline Weiss is an artist, poet, and mother, and to her, being her full-self means embracing those parts of her while practicing love for everyone. She turned her television off in 1984 and describes herself as a queer, white, anti-racist social change agent with a twinkle in her eye! If that doesn't get your attention, she is also the Leadership Programs Director at the National LGBTQ Task Force. She works on the Creating Change Conference helping the Task Force building relationships in the host city which will be Detroit, MI in January 2019. As part of the build-up to the conference, the Task Force will host the Queering Racial Justice in Detroit September 8th.
Before working at the Task Force, Evangeline worked in HIV/AIDS advocacy projects in the 1990s in New York. She worked at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the local needle exchange in the East Village, and at Act Up. She has worked in human resources and spent 5 years as the Director of Diversity & Equity for Duke University’s Office for Institutional Equity. Working internationally, she has a great deal of experience in collaborating with interpreters and is also fluent in Spanish and French.
Evangeline is an artist, poet, and mother, and to her, being her full-self means embracing those parts of her while practicing love for everyone. Now, outside of work, Evangeline volunteers her time organizing White People Against Racism in her community as well as teaching workshops at other organizations.
Sharon Harris, founder and director of Lupus Detroit, and Lupus Warrior, Francine Houston are here to talk about the 6th Lupus Detroit Walk for Warriors/ It takes place Saturday, September 1st. Walkers will gather at the New Center Park at 9AM for registration, warm-ups, and festivities before beginning the 1K walk.
Lupus Detroit believes that no Lupus Warrior should have to decide between purchasing their medication and buying food for their families. Everyone needs assistance from time to time. Lupus Detroit offers emergency financial assistance grants in addition to awareness and advocacy events. The fundraising goal for this year's walk is $50,000. Participants can form teams or just walk with others. The registration fee is $20 for Walkers over 12 years of age.
Sharon Harris is the founder of Lupus Detroit. Shortly after graduating from FAMU, she was diagnosed with lupus. She not only lives with Lupus but thrives and provides support an encouragement for others living with this chronic autoimmune disease.
Francine Lakeisha Houston is a lupus survivor. She wrote a book for people with lupus called “Lupus Journey”. A multitalented individual who enjoys fashion, graphic/media and writing, she has founded two businesses. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication design and associate 's degrees in applied graphic design and fashion design. from College for Creative Studies.
Ken Mejia-Beal is first and foremost an activist and a supporter of the underdog. He is a concerned citizen, who cares deeply for his country and wants to make the world a better place for all people.
This Chicago native is a capitalist with a heart who believes in free thinking and human rights. Ken wants to use his words in order to shine a light on political ventures in order to allow those without knowledge to form strong positions through fact-based conversation. Ken resides in DuPage County, within Illinois with his husband singer/songwriter Michael Mejia-Beal.
Ken is a member of the Democratic National Committee a Political Strategist and Organizer for several candidates over the last 5 years. He is a contributing editor at Dem Write Press where his Chronicles of an Outsider” series explores his journey as an everyday American who happens to be African American and a member of the LGBTQ community. He is also a contributing editor for Patriot Not Partisan, an online magazine launched by actress and political activist Alyssa Milano. aimed at providing voters with tools to contact their Congressional representatives. His July 21st article, a must read, addressed White Fragility.
He has given speeches to small and large audiences across America about resisting, persisting and badassery!
Vanessa Sheridan is an expert business consultant, respected author, and transgender activist. This US air force veteran lives in Chicago after relocating from Minneapolis, Minnesota to join the staff or center on Halstead. She is the organization's Director of Gender Equity and Inclusion.
Vanessa's been providing public outreach, speaking, presenting, writing, consulting, and offering transgender awareness training services nationally for major corporations, nonprofit organizations, and federal government agencies.
She's the author of three published books, including the complete guide to transgender in the workplace. The first full length, hard covered book on this topic ever released by a mainstream publisher. In addition, she's twice been a national lambda literary award finalist for other Trans related books she's written. She was the first transgender member of the board of directors for the Stonewall National Museum and archives, and she currently serves as a member of a national transgender advisory committee for out and equal workplace advocates.
Vanessa graduated from Metropolitan State University in St Paul, Minnesota, where she was subsequently named one of the 40 alumni who are making a difference. She did graduate work at United Theological Seminary in the twin cities. She was profiled as a leader in religious movements for justice for LGBTQ persons by the LGBT religious archives networks in 1991.
Vanessa's been providing public outreach, speaking, presenting, writing, consulting, and offering transgender awareness training services nationally for major corporations, nonprofit organizations, and federal government agencies.
A resident of Chicago, IL Author & Publisher Eddie S. Pierce Jr.received his Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Chicago State University. He is the founder of Rainbow Room Publishing, LLC.,
When he learned he was HIV positive, Pierce was also diagnosed with clinical depression. It was through this time of despair that he found a safe-haven through his writing. Pierce says he went from exhaustion, anger, and depression to what he often describes as “pure black boy joy.”
Writing allowed Pierce to explore his emotions, reflect on the past, and look to the future. This sense of serenity and safety lit a fire inside him to further his education and continue to “add to the voices of those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
He was inspired to start Rainbow Room Publishing Company out of pure necessity. His Love series now includes LOVE: Changes 1.0, LOVE: From Behind, and LOVE: Changes 2.0 and 3.0. He is currently drafting and promoting works which discuss the events surrounding our flawed criminal justice system, Marriage Equality, and sexism in Corporate America. Wearing both hats, author and publisher is admittedly no small feat.
As a public speaker, he speaks of the challenges he faces as a Christian HIV positive SGL (same gender loving) writer and publisher. What keeps him going/ Pierce says “I keep pushing because someone needs to see me succeed. To make something intangible, tangible is worth it all.”
After working in the newspaper and magazine industry for nearly her entire career, Gia Cilento knew that one day, she’d start a publishing house. Today, Cilento is an award-winning writer, noted publisher, life-coach, and communications expert.
Her career in publishing spans nearly 30 years. She has extensive experience in print and digital media, writing, editing, coaching, as well as leading. Her book “How to Go From Frazzled to Fantastic” is a step-by-step guide to managing stress, stopping worry, and feeling fantastic every day.
In 2014, after about 20 years of planning, wanting and waiting, she finally incorporated her publishing house - Mad Hatter Publishing.
Mad Hatter Publishing, Inc., partnering with talented and passionate writers and. also writing her own books, she aims to help people create a fantastic life.
With a passion for words and creating, she spends her spare time (when she stumbles upon it) staring at blank pages, imagining the joy of filling them up with her thoughts and imaginings.
Her family moved about the United States and by the time she was ten years old, she'd moved approximately 20 times. The people she met along the way and the experiences she gained sparked her imagination and created a love for the written word that would shape her life.
After witnessing repeated acts of discrimination and abuses, Cynthia Thornton was drawn by her a strong belief in basic fairness and humankind's obligation to itself to get involved in working for civil rights especially for members of the LGBTQ community. She was especially motivated by the suicide of a young, co-worker who presented as a lesbian.
She serves as President of Pride at Work Michigan. Pride at Work Michigan is the local branch of a national nonprofit organization that represents LGBTQ union members and their allies and is officially recognized by the AFL-CIO. Earlier this year Thornton, received the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Rebel With A Cause Award for her “exemplary demonstration of leadership and inspiration to young workers everywhere, especially here Michigan.”
Thornton believes that nothing’s going to change without going through a political platform.” So, she works to build personal relationships while building understanding and acceptance. Thornton is working to educate LGBTQ communities of color and others about the candidates in the upcoming elections as well as getting out the vote in the LGBTQ community. Her new enterprise “Say it Proud LGBTQ POC” recognizes the compounded daily concerns that exist for people whose lives are lived at the intersection of two or more marginalized characteristics.
Willy Wilkinson is an award-winning, Asian American, transgender writer, public health consultant, cultural competency trainer, public speaker, and spoken word performer. He is the author of the book Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency, which transforms the memoir genre into a cultural competency tool.
He is the recipient of a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association excellence in writing award, the Transgender Law Center Vanguard Award, and is recognized on the Trans 100.
This poetic, journalistic memoir shines an intersectional beacon on the ambiguity and complexity of mixed heritage, transgender, and disability experience, and offers an intimate window into how current legislative and policy battles impact the lives of transgender people.
A dynamic and engaging speaker Willy earned a master’s in public health in Community Health Education from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Women's Studies from UC Santa Cruz. He lives in Oakland, California with his three vibrant young children. Whether navigating the men's locker room like a "stealth trans Houdini," accessing lifesaving health care, or appreciating his son's recognition of him as a "transformer," he illustrates the unique, difficult, and sometimes comical experiences of transgender life.
Dr. Tim Retzloff graduated from the University of Michigan in 2006 before getting his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2014. He teaches LGBTQ studies and U.S. history at Michigan State University.
His engagement with U-M’s LGBTQ past began while a student at UM-Flint when a political science professor asked him to write a history appendix of LGBTQ history in Michigan. Retzloff authored the history appendix for the 1991 study commonly known as The Lavender Report.
The Tim Retzloff oral history interviews (1993-2012) consist of over eighty oral histories conducted by Retzloff with members of Detroit's LGBTQ community to further his knowledge of what LGBT life was like between 1945 and 1985. His first book is based on these interviews.
His research on queer life in Michigan has appeared in the journal GLQ, the collection Making Suburbia, Between the Lines Newspaper and the anthology Creating a Place for Ourselves.
Speaking from the perspective of an LGBTQ professor, Retzloff recently participated in a panel in honor of its sesquicentennial at Wayne State University. Retzloff believes “There’s a lot of LGBBTQ history that’s not known because we haven’t pursued and asked people their stories, “For him, one of the purposes of panels like the one at Wayne State University is to share those stories so that we know them and, while we can, we get them firsthand.”
StatusSexy.com, a program of UNIFIED HIV Health and Beyond, started as a place to increase testing and decrease the stigma around HIV for young men. The site is a place to get the facts on HIV and for individuals to express themselves as the generation that has only known the world with HIV/AIDS as part of it.
Akilah Benton, is a public health professional with extensive experience in practical and research-based work with persons living with HIV, both domestically and abroad. Early on, she developed a passion for understanding cultural differences in the context of health care. While pursuing her master’s degree in Florida, she had an opportunity to work with a research study that adapted the renowned HIV behavioral health intervention, Healthy Relationships. She currently serves as Interim Vice President of Community Research and Innovation of UNIFIED HIV Health and Beyond. Ka’Juan D. Hill is a Community Outreach Specialist at UNIFIED-HIV Health and Beyond. He uses his passion for public speaking and HIV to develop innovative sex-positive outreach strategies to reach communities of color. Using social media as a tool he has built a platform amongst the community reaching people in large numbers speaking on the topics of safe sex and risk reduction,
StatusSexy.com believes that there is nothing sexier than confidence; confidence in yourself, in your partners and in the bedroom. The only way to get that confidence is to know your HIV status. Whether you're negative or positive knowing your status is always sexy when you know it.
Standing boldly in the crosshairs of his intersectionality as an African American, queer, Muslim, man Imam Daayiee Abdullah lectures nationally and internationally on progressive Muslim concepts, intra-faith and interfaith networking, and the development of inclusive and progressive revisions of Islamic theological thought and Islamic law.
He is one of the few openly gay imams in the world. His first act as an Imam was that he performed funeral rights for a gay Muslim who died because of AIDS.
Imam Abdullah actively promotes understanding and awareness of issues of racial, gender and sexual equality as understood in the UN Declaration of Human Rights within and beyond Muslim communities.
He is the Executive Director of MECCA Institute (Muslim Education Center for Creative Academics) a Muslim think tank and online Islamic theological school. It teaches an inclusive liberation theology and interpretation of Quran.
IMAM ABDULLAH was born in Detroit, MI. At the young age of 15, he came out to his parents. Abdullah converted to Islam at the age of 33 when he was studying in China, later he moved to Egypt, Syria, and Jordan to study the religion. As a gay man in America, he witnessed that lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual Muslim are not treated in a good way so he decided to become an Imam to provide community support.
His first act as an Imam was that he performed funeral rights for a gay Muslim who died because of AIDS.
The founder of the Esteem Awards, Philip Esteem, gives a behind the scenes look at the Awards Program and talk about this year's awardees.
The Esteem Awards give recognition to outstanding LGBTQ organizations and individual not only in Chicago but nationally each year. The 11th Annual Esteem Awards will take place on June 30th at Chicago’s Sidetrack Lounge located at 3349 N. Halsted from 1PM-4PM. Seven organizations and twelve individuals are being honored at this year's Awards.
Philip Esteem founded the Esteem Awards to give recognition to outstanding LGBTQ organizations and individuals. He started working in the community with Black Pride (Chicago in 2005), He began networking and was being introduced to people that were doing good things in the community and never really recognized as they should have been.
He is also the administrator of Pride on Film by PrideIndex.com which profiles Filmmakers, Producers, Directors, Writers, and Actors. This includes both independent and mainstream film, video and web series that cover the African American/ African Diaspora, Latino/Other People of Color and LGBTQ, Experimental film, Documentary. PrideIndex.com is an online entertainment guide to events, bars, and parties for the African-American and LGBT communities.
Maria Hadden has lived in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood for 10 years. It was her first neighborhood in Chicago. Hadden wants to find a new way to support her beloved neighborhood by running for Alderman in the 49th Ward. If elected, Hadden would become the first queer Black woman on the Chicago City Council. She is the recipient of the Esteem Award for Outstanding Service, Female - Chicago award.
She attended Ohio State University where her undergraduate study was in International Studies, specifically in peace and conflict studies. After finishing college, she signed up to work for the nonprofit organization AmeriCorps, which brought her to Chicago. Maria’s interests in community voice and the role of civil society were the focus of her graduate studies at DePaul University where she earned an M.S. in International Public Service Management.
Maria is a founding board member of the Participatory Budgeting Project and from 2010 - 2018 led their technical assistance work in the Midwest and the Southern United States. She serves on the board of directors for Black Youth Project 100. She is currently Executive Director of Our City, Our Voice, a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to support civic engagement processes and organizing with the goal of building community capacity to advance transformative social justice and democratic practice in the United States.
The 2oth Annual Allied Media Conference takes place in Detroit June 14-17, 2018 on the campus of Wayne State University. The Conference emerges out of 20 years of relationship-building across issues, identities, organizing practices and creative mediums. Since the first conference (then the Midwest Zine Conference) in 1999, people have been compelled by the concept of do-it-yourself media. The zine conference was rebranded as the “Underground Publishing Conference” for a couple years and then became the Allied Media Conference in 2002. The shift to Allied Media attracted more people who were interested in using participatory media as a strategy for social justice organizing.
NADINE MARSHALL (pronouns They/Them) is a queer black poet from Detroit who has appeared at TED x U of M (2016), The Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam in Columbus, OH (2016), and The National Poetry Slam Competition in Oakland, CA (2015). They are the content coordinator for the Allied Media Conference. She joined the team in 2017 and specializes in strategic planning, community engagement, and program development. Nadine graduated from Wayne State University with an MSW in 2017 and hopes to continuously engage her passion to uplift, bridge, and empower minority communities through creative platforms.
In 2015 the Conference surpassed 2,500 attendees and now includes. “AMC @ Night,” a five-day music festival during the AMC, showcasing local and national musical talent.
Born and raised in the South Bronx of New York City Roache decided to visit a friend who had just moved to Seattle. After seeing all the murals and the waterfront he decided to stay.
Roache attended Alfred University, a small, comprehensive university in Western New York where besides art he also took up equestrian studies. His love of horses took him to Canada and Michigan where he honed his "Cowboy" skills and picked up the love of harmonica playing but art remained his first love.
Roache has collaborated with artists in London and Australia in addition to teaching classes at some of Seattle's most elite visual art institutions including the Gage Academy of the Arts and Seattle Art Museum. His work has also been showcased in New York’s Robert C. Tanner Galery, The Factory in Seattle, Base Experimental Arts Space and has been published in the Stranger Magazine and City Arts.
He believes public art is in the ideal art form because there is no elitism; its purpose is to bring communities together and encourage creativity. Roache is personally extremely interested in the development of rotating walls (short lived murals) that would be ever-changing, allowing there to be a conversation within the community based on the politics, weather, science, and other social constructs that can be tackled by local artist and even visiting artists.
Roache recently brought his talents to the set of Dani Tirrelll's Black Bois, creating ephemeral murals to contribute to the dance piece
Dr. Remolia Simpson is a six-year Army veteran who served as a company supply sergeant from 1982 until 1988. Working in medical and military police units, she was stationed in such locales as South Korea and Germany. She is a passionate veterans’ advocate.
In the spring of 2016, she founded “My Brothers House” a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide safe, supportive housing for LGBTQ veterans and their families.
Nationwide in scope, My Brothers House seeks to vigorously address the problem of veteran homelessness through its services and facilities. These multibed residences will meet the shelter and short-term crisis counseling needs of returning, disabled and elderly veterans.
In 2018 she was recognized as one of DBQ Magazines Loud 100 LGBTQ People of Color. The list recognizes outstanding individuals whose accomplishments have encouraged and inspired.
Dr. Simpson firmly believes that those who kept us living without fear on the battlefields and oceans of the world should be free from fear when they return to civilian life.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that 39,471 veterans are homeless on any given night. LGBT veterans suffer from a host of service connected mental health issues yet continue to endure discrimination and often struggle with the reintegration process after service.
Dr. Simpson has an extensive educational background with an undergraduate degree in Management Studies, a master’s degree in human services and a Doctorate in Biblical Counseling. She has directed a day program serving mental health and special needs clients in the Washington DC area and managed a homeless shelter in Long Island, NY.
Originally from Birmingham, AL, Lawayne Orlando Childrey has also lived in Mississippi and now calls Nashville, TN home. Every day, millions of people lose sight of their dreams when life's curveballs knock them off their feet and out of the game
Childrey endured some of the most horrific trauma imaginable, including childhood sexual abuse, depression, violent and tragic deaths, a crack cocaine addiction, and an HIV diagnosis but beat the odds returning to college at the age of 40 and becoming a respected news journalist. He won the national Edward R. Murrow award given by the Radio Television Digital News Association honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism.
.Author Lawayne Childrey's book “Peeling Back The Layers: A Story of Trauma, Grace and Triumph” was selected as one of the top six autobiographies of 2015 by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. It has also received critical acclaim from Hollywood to South Africa. A movie script is currently being developed. He is not only a survivor and acclaimed author but he is also a journalist, motivational speaker, and HIV/AIDS activist.
You'll want to add “Peeling Back The Layers: A Story of Trauma, Grace and Triumph” to your summer reading list!!!
Sisi Reid and Cozine Welch Jr. have worked together at the University of Michigan’s Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP). The Project encompasses both academic and volunteer-based programs at the University of Michigan. PCAP is a member of Humanize the Numbers, an ongoing project that utilizes collaborative art practices, public installations, and cross-disciplinary workshops to connect incarcerated men and women in Michigan prisons with hundreds of students, artists, researchers, and activists in Southeast Michigan.
Sisi is a theatre artist, spoken word performer, youth worker, and activist fueled by connection and community. As a storyteller, she uses theatre to activate awareness of social injustices, build community, and encourage myself and others to bring out their internal power. She’s originally from Maryland and she studied theater at the University of Maryland College Park. Although she has been residing in Ann Arbor, MI she will soon be returning to Maryland
Cozine was incarcerated at the age of 17. He attained his degree in Business Administration and since reentering the community he has continued his education currently pursuing an MFA degree. He is an accomplished poet and guitarist. A regular contributor to The Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative Writing, Cozine has been featured in six of the seven volumes and penned the introduction to Volume 4.
They will talk about the path that brought them together and will forever link them as friends and creatively.
Dance artist, performer, choreographer and dance educator Dani Tirrell's work focuses on the queer, gender non-conforming and black experiences. His latest work "Black Bois" premiered recently in Seattle for a limited engagement. Black Bois is a movement and theater piece, created with original music by Benjamin Hunter and written word by J Mase III, is a ceremony to the ancestors, and a thanksgiving to the past, present, and future. It explores how black men/bois grieve, show rage, express joy, and cry.
Originally from Detroit, dance artist, performer, choreographer and dance educator, Tirrell danced with Jazz and Spirit Dance Theater of Detroit, Monroe Ballet Company, Detroit-Windsor Dance Company and Full Circle Dance Company. He was the Founder/Artistic Director of Natural Locz Dance Company based in Detroit MI. He is also a part-time lecturer in the dance department at the University of Washington.
He has performed at Seattle International Festival of Dance, Gay City Arts, Bumpershoot: Velocity Dance Center Showcase, Showing Out: Black Contemporary Choreographers, Northwest New Works Festival: On The Boards, Seattle Art Museum, Erased (Color Lines Dance Ensemble) and as part of Nights at the Neptune at the Neptune Theater. He has also performed in Portland, in San Francisco, in Los Angeles and traveled to Austria.
Poet, and scholar Alexis Pauline Gumbs Ph.D. is a queer black troublemaker, a black feminist love evangelist, and a prayer poet priestess. She has a Ph.D. in English, African and African-American Studies, and Women and Gender Studies from Duke University. She is a widely published public intellectual and essayist whose work has appeared in publications like Make/Shift, Left Turn, The Crisis, Ms. Magazine, The Feminist Wire, and Obsidian. We'll be celebrating poetry and talking about her books "Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity" and "M Archive After the End of the World."
She was the first scholar to research the Audre Lorde Papers at Spelman College, the June Jordan Papers at Harvard University, and the Lucille Clifton Papers at Emory University during her dissertation research.
At the age of nineteen, she founded Broken Beautiful Press, a grassroots publishing initiative inspired by Kitchen Table Press and Redbone Press. She is a widely published public intellectual and essayist.
Her work appears in publications like Make/Shift, Left Turn, The Crisis, Ms. Magazine, The Feminist Wire, Obsidian and she in many academic and activist books including The Revolution Starts at Home, The Black Imagination, Abolition Now!, Does Your Mama Know and Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions.
Dr. Gumbs is also a visual mixed-media artist. Her current series is Black Feminist Breathing Collages. She recently completed successful western hemisphere tours with her interactive oracle project “The Lorde Concordance,”
Together Carter Brown, founder of Black Transmen Inc., the first national nonprofit organization that is providing resources, support and social advocacy to transgendered people throughout their transition, and Carmarion Anderson, minister at Living Faith Covenant Church, the south regional minister for the national group TransSaints of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries and Co-founder of Black Transwomen Inc., will co-convene BTAC2018 in Dallas, TX April 23-29. The conference was Initially a program of Black TransMen Inc. The group facilitated the launch the women’s portion of the organization at the second Black Trans Advocacy Conference in 2013 following conversations about expanding the group’s reach.
This year’s National Black Trans Advocacy Conference will have featured events including TransManifest Live!; Mr & Miss Black Trans International Pageant; Black Trans Advocacy Awards Gala and Black Trans Family Reunion Day.
The theme of this year's conference is "BTAC 2018: Journeying Together: Living in Greater Truth and Healing. BTAC’s co-conveners Carter Brown, Founder and National Executive Director of Black TransMen Inc and Black Transwomen Inc Co-Founder Rev. Carmarion Anderson will share what has been learned from past conferences and what this year's attendees can expect.
On Sunday, April 22, 2018, at 5:00 pm, there will be a special worship service inviting the community to join in prayer and praise for the direction and grace of God as Full Truth Fellowship of Christ Church moves forward. The church is located at 4459 Joy Rd in Detroit. Everyone is welcome.
A must hear conversation in preparation for this special worship service is this conversation with The Rev. Dr. Renee McCoy. She shares her personal story and reflects on the history, power and presence of Full Truth Fellowship of Christ Church in Detroit’s African American LGBTQ community.
As Rev. McCoy relates the church is currently in need of immediate assistance for repairs and community support. She is also seeking artifacts including photos of not only the church’s history but of Detroit’s African American LGBTQ community.
Tim’m West is a poet & Hip Hop Artist, a youth advocate and an educator & scholar. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, West has traveled the nation speaking about issues at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, and social justice.
A graduate of Duke University with a Bachelors of Arts, an MA from The New School for Social Research, and Stanford University, he is also the author of several books, Hip-Hop projects, and appears in several anthologies. He started the Front Porch: a performance art series that has mobilized hundreds of artists for more than a decade and has also appeared in multiple documentaries at the intersection of Hip Hop and black masculinity,
His 4th book in 2015, "pre|dispositions: a poetic memoir" contains, in part, a Chapter about his experiences as an educator. In 2016, he released his 6th solo Hip-Hop/Soul project, ICONography.
Tim’m West is currently the leader of Teach For America’s national LGBTQ Community Initiative, advancing safer and braver classrooms for LGBTQ students preK-12 and their educators. Teach For America is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to "enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.
A celebrated poet and hip-hop artist, youth advocate and educator Tim’m West embraces the power of words to challenge ideas of masculinity, and race.
JP Howard curates and nurtures Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon, a forum offering all writers, but especially women, at all levels, a monthly venue to come together in a positive supportive space. The Salon celebrates its 7th Anniversary on April 14, 2018.
She is a Cave Canem graduate fellow and is the author of “SAY/MIRROR,” a debut poetry collection published by The Operating System. “SAY/MIRROR” was a 2016 Lambda Literary Award Finalist in the Lesbian Poetry category. Howard is a 2018 featured author in Lambda Literary’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools program, a Push Cart Prize nominee and was a finalist for Split This Rock’s 2017 Freedom Plow Award for Petry & Activism.
With Amber Atiya, she edited Volume 107 of Sinister Wisdom – “Black Lesbians-We Are the Revolution.” Sinister Wisdom is a multicultural Lesbian literary and art journal.
Howard grew up in Sugar Hill, Harlem the daughter of the groundbreaking African American model of the 1940s and 50s, Ruth King. Poetry has played an important role in her life since childhood allowing her to find her own voice.
He went from making it on his own at age 15 to become an icon in the ballroom culture for the House Infiniti. Along the way, he graduated with highest honors as the Valedictorian and a Presidential Scholar from Olive Harvey College and graduated in the top 1% of the Honors and Arts and Sciences Colleges as Summa Cum Laude from Chicago State University.
His many Ballroom recognitions include being inducted into the Midwest Awards Ball Hall of Fame, receiving the Eric Christian Bazaar Breakthrough award (2002), being deemed a Legend for Bizarre Bazaar (2004), and deemed an Icon for Community Outreach as the Blueprint (2016). He was recently inducted into the Ballroom Scene Radio Hall Of Fame.
He does not take his ballroom status lightly, recognizing that with the status comes great responsibility and he's used it to advocate for the LGBTQ community and has been recognized for his efforts to advance social justice and equality.
Solomon founded In Demand Entertainment (IDE) in 2002. IDE's mission is to bridge the gap between public health and social service organizations and underserved populations, who are and in-need, at-risk, and often hard-to-reach, as a means for community empowerment. As a tool for fighting the HIV epidemic, Solomon pioneered the concept of getting ball participants screened at a Ball in Chicago.
For his efforts to advance social justice and equality for the LGBTQ community, Solomon was also recognized in 2012 by the Coalition for Justice and Respect as a Community Warrior. In 2013 he was appointed by the Gay Liberation Network as a co-chairperson for the March on Springfield for Marriage Equality.
Emily Stevenson offers inclusive care for all families and individuals, including fertility, conception, prenatal, homebirth, postpartum, lactation and doula services. Emily offers her services not just as a Certified Professional Midwife but as a Queer Certified Professional Midwife. She recently worked with Haitian midwives at the MamaBaby Haiti Birth Center. Prior to becoming a midwife, Emily spent several years as a doula and trained in emergency medical services.
Pregnant persons have a right to be treated with respect and dignity during labor and child birth. This is especially important to LGBTQ families that also exist outside cisgender and heteronormative worldviews. LGBTQ families might have a hard time within the healthcare system because of seemingly simple things like the language we use when taking a history, lack of social support, and discrimination from providers and other healthcare staff.
Midwives often meet people at their most vulnerable. A young woman may be coming in for her first annual exam, or a pregnant woman is coming in for prenatal care. Women come from different walks of life, and Midwives strive to give compassionate care to everyone.
A native Detroiter, Nicole Denson is a mother, artist, and social justice activist. She has volunteered within the community in many capacities.
She is currently the Associate Director of Advocacy Services for the Wayne County Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner's Advocacy Program (WC SAFE). WC SAFE’s mission is to provide comprehensive and compassionate medical-forensic care to Wayne County survivors of sexual assault in a timely manner with immediate crisis advocacy, follow-up care & counseling, and provision of expert witness testimony. She was awarded Advocate of the year in 2015 and 2016 by the WC SAFE Program. In 2017 she spearheaded a support group, one of the only groups of its kind in the metro-Detroit area, for LGBTQ people who have experienced sexual support. Using her 15 years of experience working with survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, she sheds light on the #MeToo and #MuteRKelly movement and actions following the Women's March.
She has advocated in creating systems for change and activism within Michigan State University’s Campus, Oakland County Police Stations and Courts, Detroit Police Department, 36th District Court, 3rd Circuit court, Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.
International Women's Day first emerged from the activities of labor movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. The United Nations began celebrating International Women's Day during the International Women's Year in 1975. Ashley Scales is one of the co-organizers of the International Women's Day celebration in metro-Detroit which includes women from all walks of life including labor and community activists. She is a wife, mother, an expectant parent, a member of Lambda Pi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and proud member of the UAW Local 160. She is currently District 1 Alternate Representative for Skilled trades and Non-trades members in the pre-production body shop, machining and stamping areas. This year to her already very full plate, she has taken on co-organizing the International Women's Day celebration in metro-Detroit. The theme for this year's celebration in the metro-Detroit area is Creating Victory Through Values, Voices, Vision! They will be recognizing/celebrating women’s rights and equality with a program on Saturday, March 10 at UAW Local 600 in Dearborn, MI.
Dr. Imani Woody the founding director and CEO of Mary's House for Older Adults. She's been an advocate for women, people of color and LGBTQ/SGL issues for more than 20 years. Mary’s House for Older Adults, Inc. has a mission is to create safe and affordable nonprofit housing project in Washington, DC that will honor the whole person as they age.
At the 2018 Creating Change Conference in Washington, DC, SAGE, the nation’s largest & oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT elders, presented Dr. Woody the SAGE Advocacy Award for Excellence on Aging Issues in recognition for her passion and leadership.
Dr. Woody has a Ph.D. in Human Services, specializing in non-profit management. She holds a Master of Human Services degree from Lincoln University and is a graduate of Georgetown University.
She also works as a diversity and inclusion consultant in the field of health, aging, and issues affecting the LGBTQ/SGL and people color communities. She has presented on LGBT aging issues at the White House National LGBT Elder Summit and at the 2017 National Equality March for Unity and Pride.
Amazing, incredible, inspiring are but a few words that could be used to describe Dr.Wilhelmina Perry.
She grew up in Harlem with her parents, grandmother, and eight siblings. Her father was a deacon and union leader who sometimes held two jobs to support the family, and her mother also worked outside the home. Dr. Perry was raised in the Pentecostal church in a household filled with a strong sense of community activism and Black pride.
She earned a BA in social welfare and a master’s degree in social work. Perry later earned a doctorate in human behavior and leadership.
She met her life partner, civil rights activist Antonia Pantoja while teaching at San Diego State University in California. Over the course of their three-decade relationship, they founded the Graduate School for Community Development in San Diego and were mainly involved with social work in low-income communities in both the United States and Pantoja’s native Puerto Rico, to where the pair relocated in the mid-1980s returning to New York in the late 1990s.
Following Pantoja’s death from cancer in 2002, Dr. Perry found a purpose by returning to her church roots and joining the Maranatha LGBTQ initiative at Riverside Church in New York City.
She co-founded the Interfaith Task Force for LGBT Homeless Youth. She also worked as a marriage equality advocate for Empire State Pride Agenda and was a co-founder of the LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. She was honored with the Encore Purpose Prize fellowship, one of the nation’s largest and most popular prizes for people over the age of 60 fighting social inequality and recently joined the advisory board for Zami Nobla.
Sherley Accime is one of the co-founding members of Black Women’s Blueprint and is the program director of the Office of Violence Against Women. Ericka Ayodele Dixon. has worked and led activist initiatives, nationally and internationally. Currently, she serves as the Public Policy Programs Director at Black Women’s BluePrint.
The Black Women’s Blue Print began in 2008 grappling with the state of Black women in the U.S. across the issues of ethnicity/nationality, class, sexual orientation, identity. Meeting in sister circles in living rooms, backyards and around kitchen tables, they developed a blueprint taking full stock of the particular problems Black women were facing within their communities and in greater society.
Black Women’s Blueprint envisions a world where women and girls of African descent are fully empowered and where gender, race and other disparities are erased.
Dr. Eric Darnell Pritchard is an assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He writes and teaches about literacy, rhetoric and their intersections with fashion, beauty, popular culture, identity, and power. He was born and raised in Queens, New York.
He is the creator and editor of Glamourtunist.com - a Fashion editorial blog focused on fashion, beauty and pop culture. He is also the editor of "Sartorial Politics, Intersectionality, and Queer Worldmaking" a special issue of QED.: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking.
His article “For Colored Kids Who Committed Suicide, Our Outrage Isn’t Enough: Queer Youth of Color, Bullying and the Discursive Limits of Identity and Safety” in Harvard Educational Review won the 2014 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Lavender Rhetoric Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship.
He is the author of the award-winning Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy. This book analyzes the life stories of sixty Black LGBTQ people along with archival documents, literature, and film.
He is currently at work on two new book projects including a biography of 1980s fashion superstar Patrick Kelly.
Waddie Grant started blogging in 2005 under different aliases about urban pop culture. He was born in Sacramento, raised in Kansas City, bred in Chicago, developed in Atlanta and is currently living in New York City.
He started The G-Listed (formerly The G-List Society) in 2012. The G-Listed is an online media networking and entertainment group that caters to the style of life in the social scene of LGBT/Queer/Same-Gender-Loving people of color. The G-Listed is an appreciation of Black pop and queer cultures that publishes its annual The Black LGBTQ Power 100 list to celebrate Black LGBTQ-SGL achievers around the world and the 100 Outstanding Personalities of Color a similar feature. The Power 100 list has an average readership of more than 100,000 audience impressions yearly.
He has also hosted and produced dozens of social, professional networking and live music events in Chicago and New York City and been featured, quoted and/or published widely. Waddie & The G-Listed media has been featured, quoted and/or published in “Positively Black” on WNBC, Gawker, Gothamist, “Oprah’s Life Class,” Chicago Red Eye, Windy City Times, Ebony, Sandra Rose, Bossip, Necole Bitchie, The YBF, MediaTakeOut, SGL Weekly, Rod 2.0, TMZ, Joe.My.God, NY Eater, Moguldum Media, CBS-2 Chicago News and other media outlets.
Waddie will share his passions for music, urban pop culture, TV, arts, city life, gay lifestyle and Black gay milestones and achievements.
Her path has taken many twists and turns. She had an amazing career in human services. She's currently Deputy Director at the Ruth Ellis Center. She's also a community activist and the matriarch of a gold star family.
She's always moving forward. For the next chapter in her life, Pamela is moving out of the “helping” profession and becoming a Detroit entrepreneur. Her business “Café Ruby” will open in 2019 as “the ultimate urban global coffee house and wine bar!”
Why coffee? Drinking coffee is something billions of people do around the world every day! Coffee is more than popular: it's ubiquitous. No other beverage is as revered or respected. It can be seen in offices, during commutes, and on kitchen countertops worldwide. Coffee is worth over $100 billion worldwide. That puts it ahead of natural gas, gold, sugar, and corn. Worldwide, we drink over 500 billion cups of coffee every year.
Arabica is the more common type of bean grown (70 percent of coffee is Arabica), and it's considered more flavorful.
Join Pamela as she shares her love and knowledge of coffee as well as how she plans to bring a unique coffee experience with her coffeehouse and wine bar to the metro-Detroit area.
Bridie Mae Johnson grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. With a lineage from several cultures, Johnson brings a unique perspective to all she does drawing upon her roots to build spaces where diversity and inclusion can flourish.
A licensed social worker, Johnson worked as Director of Programs at the Ruth Ellis Center from 2007 to 2009. She moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Johnson was employed at Saginaw County Youth Protection Council, as the Division Director of Innerlink Services Division. She recently returned to the metro-Detroit area joining the staff of the American Indian Health & Family Services.She's back in Detroit working with the community and using the knowledge she's learned along the way to educate attendees at the Creating Change Conference in Washington DC.
Through her work in Michigan and Georgia, Bridie has become aware of and researched the problem of human trafficking especially of youth and members of the LGBTQ community. Based on her work in this area she submitted a proposal and will be presenting at the Creating Change Conference in Washington, DC January 24-28.
Bridie will talk about her work in the LGBTQ community and presentation at Creating Change. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the Creating Change Conference. It will be held in Washington, DC at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, January 24-28, 2018.
Victoria Proctor is a holistic health counselor, massage therapist, a registered nurse (RN), with a Masters as a prepared Exercise Physiologist.How can you live better and healthier in general and especially if you have type 2 diabetes? Through education, her years in the nursing profession and personal practice, Victoria Proctor has developed strategies and tips to build wellness into your future.
She is a holistic health counselor, massage therapist, a registered nurse (RN), with a Masters as a prepared Exercise Physiologist. She says, “We have to just learn to make better choices and certainly better choices for the children.”
Changing our diet can be the first step and even an intervention to prevent the onset of or damage caused by type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is one of the most serious health problems that the African American community faces today. Compared to the general population, African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes. Proctor knows first-hand the devastating effects of type 2 diabetes. It runs in her family.
Besides participating in the Iron Girl Triathlon, Proctor bicycles in the “Tour de CURE for Diabetes” in honor of her mother Gladys Proctor.
She has personally raised over $4000.00 for the American Diabetes Association and If you count the efforts of her Team VITAL it's over $7000.00
It is estimated that over 60 million families are caring for an aging or disabled person at home. More than 39 million people in the U.S. are age 65 years or older including 2.4 million people who identify as LGBTQ. The Care Plan is the country's first healthcare management company devoted to LGBTQ individuals and communities. It helps clients develop a personal health and aging guide working with individuals and families to restore clarity, comfort, and control.
Chicago based, Jackie Boyd founder and owner of "The Care Plan" has spent much of her professional career providing care management services. She will share tips on developing a comprehensive approach to avoid common crisis along the path to aging and ways to support Caregivers as a family and community.
Whether it’s your parents, partner or yourself, at some point each of us may be called upon to provide care for a loved one or be in need of extended care personally. Ms. Boyd has spent much of her professional career providing care management services. She will share tips on developing a comprehensive approach to avoid common crisis along the path to aging and ways to support Caregivers as a family and community.
Start off your new year with a resolution, a Care Plan, and our special guest Jackie Boyd
What is Kwanzaa, how is it celebrated in the community at large and especially in the African American LGBTQ community?
Joining Collections by Michelle Brown is Dr. Kofi Adoma who for many years has organized and led Kwanzaa celebrations in Detroit’s African American LGBTQ community to give us a “Kwanzaa 101” introduction and talk about this year’s celebration.
An African American cultural holiday initiated by Dr. Maulana Karenga Kwanzaa celebrates the work and dedication African Americans put forth throughout the year.
It is patterned on the African celebration of harvest during which tribute is paid to the ancestors and to God, while at the same time praying for another benevolent year. The word “Kwanzaa” refers to the first fruits of the harvest. It indicates the firm determination of a community to begin a new year of commitment, hard work, and fulfillment that requires collective effort.
It centers around the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self-Determination); Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility); Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity); and Imani (Faith).
"Dr. Kofi", as she is affectionately called, has been a community activist/organizer since high school when she was a member of the Highland Park High School Black Awareness Club. She is a founding member of numerous grassroots organizations including Unity Fellowship Church Detroit, The A.L.O.R.D.E. Collective, Karibu House Community Center, Race Matters, and The Ruth Ellis Center.
It's December and communities everywhere are celebrating the holidays in a plethora of ways. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa or just great times with friends and family – “Tis the season to be jolly” - Right?
Unfortunately for the Transgender community, amidst the holiday festivities, is the glaring reality that for transphobic hate, bigotry and violence it’s just another day. There was an attack on December 12 in Washington DC and two days later 26-year-old Brandi Seals was found dead in front of a house under construction in Houston,TX. For Transgender women and men, especially those of color, peace on earth and good will toward them remains elusive.
Filling the gap between political activism/advocacy and the day-to-day realities of living as Trans, especially as a trans woman of color is,. Bre Anne Campbell is one of the founders and Executive Director of TSOCP which was founded in 2015 by a group of concerned Detroit community activists in direct response to the growing number of murders of trans women and gender non-conforming people. The Trans Sistas of Color Project (TSOCP) works to uplift, influence and impact the lives and wellbeing of trans women of color in Metro Detroit.
Campbell shares her story and talks about the work of TSOCP to help Transwomen navigate the hazads of being trans in the metro Detroit area and across the country,
Detroit Health Link for Equity in Cancer Care is a region-wide coalition to address cancer-related needs in metropolitan Detroit. Funded in 2016 by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Detroit Health Link brings together community members, community-based organizations, and cancer researchers to develop research ideas as well as educational and service-based programs.
At the heart of Detroit Health Link are the Cancer Action Councils (CACs): groups of community members and leaders who use their local knowledge to improve the lives of cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers in their communities. Cancer affects more people in the city of Detroit and Wayne County than most other parts of Michigan. This not only means that more people are diagnosed with cancer, but more people die from cancer
There are currently has 6 active Cancer Action Councils: The most recent being at LGBT Detroit. LGBTQ communities are disproportionately affected by cancer. If community members and researchers work together, targeted research and programming can be developed to improve a wide range of cancer outcomes in our area. The new LGBTQ Cancer Action Council is currently seeking members
Hayley S. Thompson, PhD and Knoll Larkin, MPH from Detroit Health Link for Equity in Cancer Care will share information about their research and how cancer survivors, caretakers and advocates, especially in the LGBTQ community can get involved in the Detroit Health Link’s Cancer Action Councils
Earlier this year we introduced you to Jerry Peterson, Executive Director of the Ruth Ellis Center located in Highland Park MI.
The Center is named after Ruth Ellis, an African-American woman who became widely known as the oldest surviving open lesbian, and LGBTQ rights activist at the age of 100 who died in 2005. The Center is a youth social services agency with a mission to provide short-term and long-term residential safe space and support services for LGBTQ youth in Detroit and Southeastern Michigan. Since incorporating in 1999, the Center has offered core services including Its residential housing program, the 2nd Stories Drop-in Center and Family Group Decision Making. Most recently it added integrated behavioral and primary healthcare services, allowing the Center to take a critical step forward to meet the ever-changing needs of the young people they serve.
More than a space and programs, The Ruth Ellis Center is people, a community that includes not only staff but the youth it serves.
Joining Collections by Michelle Brown are Amara one of the young people who has been coming to the Center for five years. She participates in many of the 2nd Story programs and is finding her voice as a youth advocate. From the staff side joining us is Pamela E. Alexander the Deputy Director of Programs at the Center. Alexander has been active in the LGBTQ community for many years before joining the staff at the Ruth Ellis Center.
They share a conversation about their experience with the Center and how their lives intersect.
Wellesley College graduate Marseille "ML" Allen moved to Flint, Michigan at what some might consider the worst possible time, as the Flint water crisis broke. She started delivering water to help residents. She also entered and won $10,000 in a GoFundMe contest for her cause. She continues to serve the people of Flint and is committed to being there for the long haul. She continues to serve th Flint community as Vice President of the Morris Peterson Jr. Foundation.
Allen is also president of The Warriors Trust Fund a 501(c) 3 organization established in 2015 to raise awareness and provide funding for the various needs of United States Armed Forces combat veterans, including, but not limited to Veterans associated with the Oakland Combat Veterans Treatment Court (C-VTC). In addition to supporting the C-VTC, the Warriors Trust Fund has expanded to the greater Combat Veteran community and now assists participants in the Veterans Treatment Court at the 45th District Court of Oak Park.
The Warriors Trust Fund provides drug and alcohol testing, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, transportation and emergency services to combat veterans – a helping hand to veterans who have stumbled under the weight of the lingering effects of combat, conflict, or search and rescue or recovery experiences. One-hundred percent of all funds raised by the organization goes towards supporting combat veterans in the criminal justice system.
Allen is Legislative Liaison of UAW Local 6000
During the month of November services are held for Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), memorializing victims of transphobic violence.
Unfortunately As of the end of October 2017, 23 trans people have been reported killed by violence in the U.S. Often after being discriminated against and targeted for violence in life, trans women and men continue to be victimized in death where they are misgendered in police and media reports even by family members and are not identified immediately as transgender.
Although nothing can take away the pain of the loss of these trans women and women, this year has been historic for the TLGB community with the election of several openly transgender candidates in Virginia, in California, in Pennsylvania, and in Georgia on November 8th.
Perhaps the greatest win of all was in the city of Minneapolis where Andrea Jenkins became the first openly trans woman of color elected to a major city’s city council.
Earlier this year we spent time with Andrea talking about her poetry, her work collecting the oral history of our trans sisters/brothers and dreams of representing Minneapolis Ward 8.
To celebrate her historic win and as a reminder that Trans Lives Matter, Collections by Michelle Brown will rebroadcast our earlier interview with now Councilwoman-elect Andrea Jenkins. Her fierce spirit, unwavering commitment and unapologetic voice as a proud trans woman of color is something we can all truly be thankful for!!
During the month of November we celebrate Transgender Day of Rememberance (TDOR), which memorializes victims of transphobic violence.
Unfortunately As of October 2017, 23 trans people have been reported killed by violence in the U.S. Often after being discriminated against and targeted for violence in life, trans women and men continue to be victimized in death misgendered in initial police reports and the edia even by family members.
Although nothing can take away the pain of the loss of these trans women and women, this year has been historic for the TLGB community with the election of several openly transgender candidates across the country on November 8th in Virginia, ]in California, in Pennsylvania and in Georgia. But perhaps the greatest win of all was in the city of Minneapolis where Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham were elected to the City Council. Jenkins became the first openly trans woman of color elected to a major city’s city council.
Earlier this year we spent time with Andrea talking about her poetry, her work collecting the oral history of our trans sisters/brothers and dreams of representing Minneapolis Ward 8. To celebrate her historic win and as a reminder that Trans Lives Matter, Collections by Michelle Brown will rebroadcast our earlier interview with Councilwoman-elect Andrea Jenkins.
Her fierce spirit, unwavering commitment and unapologetic voice as a proud trans woman of color is something we can all truly be thankful for!!
Sinister Wisdom, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, publishes the journal and provides outreach and educational programs in support of building vibrant lesbian communities. Publishing since 1976, it works to create a multicultural, multi-class lesbian space opening, considering and advancing the exploration of lesbian community issues.
Originally from Michigan, Enszer was involved in the LGBTQ community in the metro-Detroit area. After leaving Michigan she continued her work with the community working with the Human Rights Campaign in Washington DC. She has her MFA and PhD from the University of Maryland.
Enszer is the author of four poetry collections , Avowed, Lilith’s Demons, Sisterhood and Handmade Love. She is also the editor of The Complete Works of Pat Parker, which won the 2017 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry and Milk & Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry, which was a finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry. . She edits and publishes Sinister Wisdom: A Multicultural Lesbian Literary & Art Journal. uest Editors edit a special, thematic issues of Sinister Wisdom. These guest editors solicit, assemble, select, edit, and proof-read a full issue of Sinister Wisdom or work on a special dossier.Sinister Wisdom provides free subscriptions to women in prison and mental institutions; currently, Sinister Wisdom mails about fifteen percent (15%) of each issue of the journal to these women. It offers reduced price subscriptions for lesbians with limited/fixed incomes.
Individuals enlist for military service for a multitude of reasons but all in service to this country. Many, including LGBTQ service members, make the ultimate sacrifice. Each year on November 11th we celebrate Veterans Day honoring and thanking them for their service. In a series of tweets, Pres. Trump announced that transgender people would be banned from serving in the US military “in any capacity” attempting to reverse an Obama-era decision to support those who would live openly and authentically as transgender while in service of their country. A federal judge has partially blocked enforcement of key provisions of Trump's memorandum banning transgender people serving in the military while LGBTQ and human rights organizations challenge its enforcement in the courts.
Char Davenport a Navy Veteran from the Vietnam era conflict. She is alos a member of the trransgender community.
She is the Michigan Field Organizer for the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Faith-based Gender Justice and Allyship Project. She has helped pass non-discrimination ordinances across Michigan and works with the National Center for Transgender Equality. You'll often find her in Washington DC lobbying her representatives, including a recent trip to support measures to curb gun violence.
She studied Journalism, English and Creative Writing. She was a journalist based in Washington DC before becoming a leading market research analyst in the photographic and digital printing industries. She has taught at high schools and colleges in Michigan and New York.
Char has dedicated her life to achieving equality for the transgender community in the wok place, health care, public accommodations, voter rights and education helping train dozens of new advocates and leaders in the Trans-Activism movement.
Thank you Char, and all veterans, for your service!
Betty Couvertier was the founder, producer and host of “Alternative Perspectives,” an LGBT radio show that continues to air on the community-owned and operated. “Alternative Perspectives” started from a notion that LGBTQ news was important news and that our voices together could get a message out to the public. Since retiring Betty keeps her eye on local and national political shenanigans, the LGBTQ community and has discovered more alternative perspectives as she travels about the country. . She is relentless, outspoken, courageous in providing an authentic voice and alternative perspective.
Join us as we talk about the consequences of the 2016 vote, the impact of the Executive Orders, presidential tweets, the current political climate and how participation in 2017 and the important 2018 elections is not optional, but crucial to change the course of our current politics at the state and federal levels.
She's back to talk not only about what happened, what's happening but what needs to happen in today's unsettling political climate.
In a departure from our usual format Collections by Michelle Brown will be remembering Stephen Maglott and celebrating his life.
Stephen was born in Bangor, Maine on October 26, 1953 but spent his formative years in Harlem and Buffalo, NY. He was drawn to Civil Rights and social justice struggles including creating an outreach program investigating instances where farm workers were held as modern-day slaves, resulting in changes to State laws.
He attended Parson’s School of Design while working for the United Nations, as a researcher attached to the UN Commission on Apartheid. He left school early to work as a Graphics Designer and Art Director for several major agencies. He lived in Los Angeles in the early 1980’s and for a few years in Amsterdam before returning to the US.
He accepted a position with Men of Color Health Awareness Project, in Rochester, NY. He assisted in the formation of the NY State Black Gay Network. He served as Board President of Ujima Theatre, on the Board of the Buffalo Caribbean Islands Festival, the National Conference for Community & Justice and the Faith Leadership Roundtable of Buffalo. NY.
Stephen began the Ubuntu Biography Project after realizing so few resources paid tribute to the lives and contributions of LGBTQ men and women of African descent. Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term that is literally translated as “human-ness.” It is an empowering affirmation of humanity’s interconnectedness and of our collective responsibility to cherish one another.
As his health began to deteriorate prior to his death, he reached out to trusted community members asking for help with the Project. Among those he approached are Aundaray Guess, and Mark Zustovich. They will be sharing memories of Stephen and updates on the Ubuntu Project.
Kristina Schmidgall is Director of Care Services at UNIFIED - HIV Health and Beyond. Different governments and organizations have declared different months as AIDS Awareness Month including October. We Can Stop HIV, lift the stigma and educate our communities on the truth about living with HIV and AIDS One Conversation at a Time.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States alone 1.1 million people are living with HIV and 1 in 7 of them don’t know it. For those infected with HIV, treatment works. The outlook for people living with HIV has significantly improved over the past two decades. Many people who are HIV-positive can now live longer, healthier lives when they’re in routine care. In 1996, the total life expectancy for an infected 20-year-old person was 39 years. In 2011, the total life expectancy bumped up to about 70 years. Someone who is HIV-positive, receiving treatment, and in optimal health may live to be in their late 70s.
Kristina entered this field as a volunteer at Lansing Area AIDS Network in 2000. She was employed at AIDS Partnership Michigan from 2006 to 2013. In 2014, she joined the staff at the Detroit Health Department as a Quality Management Specialist with the Ryan White HIV Program. In 2016, she returned to UNIFIED- HIV Health and Beyond as the Director of Care Services, managing eight care programs.
From Nobel Peace Prize Award Winner Malala Yousafzai’s continued activism for girls’ right to education, to the continued plight of school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants even after their release, to the millions of little girls and young women have been subjected to a painful genital mutilation worldwide, to young girls right here in the United States subject to poverty, under education and danger from violence in their neighborhoods - the “International Day of the Girl Child” focuses attention on fulfillment of their human rights. The world’s 1.1 billion girls are part of a large and vibrant global generation poised to take on the future.
London Bell returns to talk about her work as President and CEO of Bell Global Justice Institute and President of the Board of the Greater Detroit Chapter of the United Nations Association to celebrate both the "International Day of the Girl Child" and "United Nations Day" and bring awareness to the UN's important work globally and Locally.
London Bell is a lawyer, community organizer, activist and humanitarian. The native Detroiter has focused her career advocating for policy changes on behalf of diverse communities. She is the President and CEO of Bell Global Justice Institute, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Detroit focused on advancing and promoting the international human right to education for girls.
Being transgender, living authentically, especially as a transwoman/man of color, not just in this country but globally, is a threat to one’s safety and longevity. Stepping out in your truth means living with the reality that there is an invisible target on your back and, if you are a person of color, that target has rings not only of transphobia but racism as well and is held together with threads of ignorance.
Lilliana Reyes is a triple threat to bigotry, racism and transphobia. She is outspoken,driven & a true force to be reckoned with in the fight not just for transgender rights but for equality and justice. Lilliana is a trans Latina woman who has extensive history working with marginalized populations including people of color, women, LGBTQ communities, HIV positive communities, and most importantly youth and all their intersections. Growing up in a tight-knit Mexican family with her parents and older brother, she was shaped by principles of faith and feminism. She witnessed racial tensions in her hometown of Saginaw, but also saw her parents’ acceptance of others, including their gay friends. Reyes was raised to believe you can do anything you want in life if you work for it.
She has worked with many state and national civil rights organizations including Planned Parenthood, National Organization of Women, Transgender Michigan, and NAACP. She is currently the program services director at Affirmations, metro Detroit's community center for lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender people and their allies. As a graduate of the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School with a Master of Public Administration and her experience of being a transgender, Latina woman has allowed her to utilize personal lessons along with her academic career to create a culture of youth empowerment encouraging diversity in all endeavors.
Rhiannon Chester is a Detroit native. She is, in her own words, unapologetically black, unapologetically a lesbian, unapologetically a feminist and unapologetically the person who is concerned,” about her community.
She is passionate about connecting people to resources whether its funds, information or other people. Much of her background is in community organizing and outreach.
As program coordinator with LGBT-Detroit she connected people to information and brought resources to the organization’s programs. She facilitated a weekly discussion called “Talk Tuesday,” a monthly conversation called “Woman 2 Woman” and helped manage the LGBT Detroit Leadership Academy program. At LGBT-Detroit Chester says the experience provided her a space where she could be unapologetically all of herself and it was a space where her concerns were not only listened to, but uplifted.
Rhiannon earned her Masters in Social Justice in 2016 from Marygrove College. She actively combines her undergraduate degree in photography with her social justice passion to increase visibility of the often unheard.
Inspired by the will, spirit, and innovation of the residents of Detroit, she is committed to working with often marginalized communities towards sustainable change. She uses her passion for connecting people, community and resources now working with IOBY Detroit.
Whether participating on a panel locally or nationally, leading workshops to bring people, and resources together, or capturing images of life, love and community through her photography, you can count on one thing – this new home owner will forever be unapologetically Rhiannon!
Originally from Bufffalo New York, Thoma "TJ" Rogers now calls Mexican Town in South west Detroit home.
TJ works at Freedom House Detroit. Freedom House Detroit is a temporary home for indigent survivors of persecution from around the world who are seeking asylum in the United States and Canada. Our mission is to uphold a fundamental American principle, one inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty, providing safety for those “yearning to breathe free.”
TJ is passionate about advocacy, and with over five years of firsthand experience providing direct services to asylum seekers, Rogers works to generate awareness about the plight and courage of asylum seekers while encouraging individuals and organizations to increase their support.
It was his learning of the Rwandan genocide that sparked a life-long love affair with Africa. He came to fully appreciated the country's beautiful culture, including traditional dance, food, music, and language. He’s also particularly drawn to Uganda, a country that most know for it's efforts to criminalize homosexuality. He’s drawn to Uganda not only for it's rich, beautiful culture, but also because of the plight, courage, and resiliency of the 'kuchu' community -An issue as an out and proud gay man he can relate to personally. In Spring 2015, He was featured as one of five LGBT Detroiters to watch in Pride Source, Michigan's LGBT Magazine, for his efforts to bridge the gap between the U.S. LGBT community and LGBT asylum community.
He was invited to participate in a roundtable conversation at the UNHCR Washington, DC office about alternatives to detention for LGBT asylum seekers. Rogers is also on the Steering Committee of LGBT Freedom and Asylum Network, a Board Member of the Mary Turner Center for Advocacy, and a proud member of Amnesty International.
According to Sykes respect, love and inclusion are our birthrights. It's not the gospel but maybe it should be! Since 1986, he has worked to build on the strengths of individual, families and communities. He uses skills and talents gained while working in direct services and executive leadership roles in the nonprofit arena. Sykes is a play therapist and works with children and adolescents impacted by neglect and abuse. He works to create safety in the therapeutic environment.
The Chicago social figure and highly sought-after therapist, launched his website “According to Sykes in 2013 at the uber chic Zhou B Art Center, setting a new standard for intimate entertaining. In 2017, he was recognized at the annual Esteem Awards with the Outstanding Service – Male Award. Each year the Esteem Awards honor local and national organizations and individuals for their continued efforts in supporting the African-American and LGBTQ communities. On receiving this prestigious award John said he believed “that being a participant in helping a community in peril, and in need of so much healing is essential.
Amid the flooding and devastation of Hurricane Harvey Monica Roberts talks about her city, Comic Con, Doubt, history and her passion in eliminate transphobia.
A force of nature in her own right, Monica is a trailblazing leader in the transgender community leader. She works diligently at educating and encouraging acceptance of trans people inside and outside the larger African-American community.
Monica is an award winning blogger, history buff, thinker, lecturer and passionate advocate on trans issues.
She seeks to not only end the erasure of African-American trans voices from a movement they played significant roles in starting, but get African-American transpeople and other voices of color more involved in empowering themselves. Her activism focus is educating the TBLGQ community and allies about our issues and concerns in addition to shedding light about the struggles of GLBTQ people across the African Diaspora.
Her writings about transgender issues from a Black perspective have appeared at Ebony.com, Loop21.com, Transadvocate, Racialicious, Feministe, Global Comment, The Bilerico Project, What Tami Said and Womanist Musings.
What's the T? From fighting transphobic legislation, to speaking for transgender rights across the country to Comic Con, Monica will tell you!
Fierce, outspoken, dapper, on the road and living her life like it's golden,that's activist, former radio host Betty Couvertier.
Betty believes in freedom for all, fairness, hope in action and equality. She is relentless, outspoken, courageous in providing an authentic voice and alternative perspective.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY where she was a city corrections officer she has been a part of Atlanta, Georgia’s LGBTQ scene since the mid-1990s. She has volunteered at WRFG 89.3 FM, a non-profit community radio station, since 2002. She was the founder, producer and host of “Alternative Perspectives,” an LGBT radio show that airs on the community-owned and operated station from 2006 until 2017.“Alternative Perspectives” started from a notion that LGBTQ news was important news and that our voices together could get a message out to the public — to the folks that we work with, play with, shop with, live next to, and go to school with.
Her energy, compassion, insightfulness, and hard work has been an incredible asset in the fight for LGBTQ equality.
A recipient of many awards since retiring Betty keeps her eye on local and national political shenanigans, the LGBTQ community and discovering more alternative perspectives as she travels about the country in her RV with her dogs and that trademark fedora.
Say “Vegan” and most will answer “No meat. No Dairy. A person who does not eat or use animal products.” The ensuing conversation often includes dietary choices, trendy restaurants and an occasional eye-roll.
But for Liz Ross our guest on Collections by Michelle Brown being a vegan goes beyond a dietary choice.
Originally from Trinidad, Liz has lived many places but calls Los Angeles, CA home. Ross is Co-founder and Director of Vegan Advocacy Initiative, (formerly Coalition of Vegan Activists of Color), a woman-of-color-led nonprofit organization. VAI is an animal advocacy and vegan food justice organization that creates and events to encourage the public to consider a holistic way of thinking that upholds animal rights. Their initiatives also encourage others to view animal rights as part of the food justice and environmental justice movements in order to create more sustainable and fair systems.
She is also co-creator of the People of Color: Animal Rights, Advocacy and Food Justice Conference, which takes place in Los Angeles and organized through Vegan Advocacy Initiative. This conference is the first-of-its kind in the US that provides a platform for speakers of color who are leaders and activists in the animal rights, vegan outreach and food justice movement. Liz also gives presentations on why issues of racism and classism matter when doing effective vegan outreach.
A former police officer, Liz also raises awareness about the history of racial bias in the criminal justice system, mass-incarceration and the so-called “War on Drugs”, through presentations, and she also volunteers for organizations that are working to counter its negative impact.
Beverly Humphrey is a 67-year-old African American woman who was diagnosed with lupus in 1976 at age 26. She has been living with the disease for 41 years.
Beverly was the first in her family to receive a diagnosis of systemic lupus. Her younger sister was diagnosed two years later and passed away in 2001 from complications related to lupus. Years later, Beverly's oldest niece was also diagnosed with lupus. By that time, Beverly had been living with lupus for 27 years and was instrumental in getting her niece to the proper health care services. Like most lupus patients, Beverly has experienced her share of challenges in her determination to live victoriously in spite of this difficult diagnosis. Some of her achievements include earning her Bachelor's degree in social work in 2006 and just this past May, earning her master's degree in counseling from the University of Detroit Mercy.
Beverly has served as a leader, and speaker for many women’s groups on a variety of topics ranging from spirituality, HIV/AIDS, to what it means to live with lupus. Most importantly Beverly is passionate about helping to encourage and empower women to live their best lives not in spite of the challenges they face with a lupus diagnosis, but because of those challenges. She truly is a LUPUS Warrior.
In 2013 Adam McMath’s documentary “Miss Understud” debuted at the Black Alphabet Film Festival. Fast forward four years and McMath now sits on the BAFF Board as the Vice President & Director of Programming. The festival takes place this year from August 18-19 at The Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago. Six films will be screened - “90 Days”, “Missed Connections”, “Jewel’s Catch One”, “Kiki’, “Check It” and “pronouns” -with a Friday night discussion with Nathan Hale Williams and Nic Few from “90 Days.”
BAFF is committed to keeping the African American community informed about new LGBTQ films along with the artists and filmmakers that serve our community both locally and nationally. Black Alphabet Film Festival (BAFF) symbolizes the unity and affirming of diversity in gender and sexual expression within the Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) community. The organization’s mission is to empower the community by promoting, nurturing and celebrating the stories of Black LGBTQ-identified people through the art of film.
This mother of two adult children is an accomplished film maker, poet, short story writer, essayist, editor and retired higher education administrator. She holds a Doctorate in Adult and Higher Education; a Master of Arts in Adult and Higher Education; and a Master of Science in General Administration . She has been invited to speak at numerous workshops and conventions throughout the United States and Canada.
As a youth, she spent 12 years in the foster care system and as the old adage goes “What doesn’t break you, makes you stronger!” She shares her personal foster care journey in her memoir IF NOT FOR DREAMS: MEMORIES OF A FOSTER CHILD. Her writing is also included in the anthology GROWING UP IN THE CARE OF STRANGERS.
She also penned a novella, Dancing Under the Same Moon and has been featured in several other publications. As a contemporary abstract artist her work has been shown at the Detroit Artist Market, National Conference of Artist Gallery, Jo’s Gallery and The Juanita Ford Gallery and the Charles H. Wright African American Museum. Her production company, Reel Women Speak is dedicated to impacting the lives of women through visual media. Collective Voices: Wisdom of our Lesbian Elders is her first independent film.
Thirty years ago, a group of friends came together to network, have fellowship and enjoy life. They didn’t intend to break barriers but they did by doing community work through entertaining. They called themselves THE BILLIONAIRE BOYS’ CLUB (BBC)
The BBC primarily wanted to make sure that everyone had a good time and meet new people. According to Robert Tate, “We never knew we were doing anything special. All we wanted to do was entertain the community. I now realize that we are activists in a different kind of way. Our way was to bring people together and network with community organizations.”
In 1996 the BBC in collaboration with numerous LGBT organizations — including the Men of Color Motivation Group, Karibu House and Ladies of a Current Affair started HOTTER THAN JULY metro-Detroit’s annual celebration of Gay Pride for the African American LGBTQ community. HOTTER THAN JULY is one of the oldest Black Gay Pride celebrations in the Midwest and takes place the last weekend of each July every year.
This year as the BBC is celebrates its 30th anniversary they will host the official 30th anniversary party on Friday, July 28th. Then take over hosting duties for the Hotter Than July brunch on Sunday, July 30th.
Tate says “I now realize that I am an activist in a different kind of way. My way is to bring people together and network with community organizations. Entertainment and community are different now, but they can be brought back together with the same flavor but for a different era. “
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Danielle Woods is a Detroit native and 16-year veteran with the Detroit Police Department. She is currently assigned to the Chief's Neighborhood Liaison unit where she coordinates and oversees the operations of the Citizen Radio Patrol. She recalls responding to a domestic violence disturbance in 2006 that was between two females who were romantically involved. Her male partner at the time made an offensive remark about the couple's sexual orientation. Woods was so upset that she approached her boss about the need for a community liaison officer for the LGBT community.
Woods was appointed the Detroit Police Department's first LGBT liaison officer in 2013. She formulated the first LGBT Advisory Board Committee under the appointment of Chief James E. Craig and is a driving force in the LGBT community in her efforts of "Bridging the Gap" between law enforcement and the LGBT community.
Woods says her role as LGBT liaison is to "serve as a bridge between the LGBT community and the police department," helping to build mutual trust, respect, and understanding between the two groups. She works closely with LGBT organizations within Detroit and surrounding areas, including Equality Michigan, the Ruth Ellis Center, Affirmations, and LGBT Detroit, and serves on an LGBT advisory board whose goal is to advocate for the LGBT community and make sure their concerns are heard.
Rev. Stringfellow is the Senior Pastor and Teacher at Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit. A Native of Fort Wayne, IN he now calls Detroit home.
Rev. Stringfellow works to create dialogs on the topic of LGBTQ equality with congregations as the Director of Ministerial Outreach with the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Sexuality on the campus of Pacific School of Religion. He has conducted multiple workshops on the topics of race, religion, class and sexuality.
In 2011, he became licensed with the United Church of Christ and the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) churches, a predominantly African-American denomination with an outreach to LGBTQ individuals.
In addition to all of his work within church contexts, Rev. Stringfellow has also worked in the field of education in a variety of capacities including teacher, guidance counselor, college adviser and vice-principal.
In 2010, he directed a national African-American faith community outreach (the Umoja Project) working with pastors and lay leaders in the Black church to provide pastoral care for gay and lesbian members of their congregation. He asks pastors, lay leaders and congregations “if this (the Bible) is the last will and testament of a God that is dead or a living breathing document of a God who is alive.”
Dr. Stringfellow has been consulted by media outlets regarding his work on marriage equality and the role of people of color and communities of faith in local, statewide and national debates. Stringfellow has conducted multiple workshops on the topics of race, religion, class, sexuality and gender identity. He has had several articles published in the Huffington Post.
Author and journalist Jason A. Michael will forever be a native Detroiter. He earned his journalism degree from Wayne State University. He received the Spirit of Detroit Award from the Detroit City Council in 2005 for his contributions to the community through journalism. After graduating from Wayne State University, he joined the staff of “Between the Lines”, a Detroit-based news and arts weekly serving Michigan’s LGBTQ community.
Jason has a passion for urban music and spent many years working with Grammy-award-winning songwriter and soul diva Betty Wright. Wright rose to fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight is the Night”.He has interviewed everyone from Motown legends Martha Reeves and Mary Wilson to Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle.
In 2007, Jason released his first entertainment biography, “Strength Of A Woman: The Phyllis Hyman Story”. The book received much critical acclaim and went on to become an Essence magazine bestseller. After 18 years Jason continues to write for “Between the Lines” and publishes under his own imprint JAM Books, LLC.
On Saturday July 1st Chicago will again host the ESTEEM Awards recognizing a cross section of leadership in the LGBTQ community. Today we are talking with the founder and force behind these annual awards Philip Esteem.
Phil is proud African American Gay Male. Although he was never formally trained as a writer or journalist Phil believes he was led to share other people’s experiences.
In 1998, he started a ZINE called Legends Statements and Stars. Legends Statements and Stars focused primarily on the ball scenewhere people, especially youth "walk" or compete for trophies and prizes at events known as balls..
In 2000, he started ESTEEM newsletter, a ZINE for the greater gay community. In 2004 Phil was approached by JC Cole about joining forces with her for a website she created called PrideIndex.com. PrideIndex is a lifestyles and entertainment site for gay communities of color.
In 2006, he joined the Windy City Black Pride Gay Pride Awards Committee where he successfully created interest for the Pride Awards for 2 years. He decided to step out on my own in 2007 and the Esteem Awards were born.
The ESTEEM awards honor some of the best and brightest LGBTQ citizens, organizations and supporters from across the country. The honorees represent a who’s who among people whose activism, service and creativity have made significant contributions to our community. Past honorees include GLAAD, The Lambda Literary Foundation, Mandy Carter, The NAACP, HRC, Keith Boykin, Mandy Carter, Monica Roberts, The Schomberg Museum, Sampson McCormick, The Ruth Ellis Center and other LGBTQ activists
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Felix and Paula Sirls, have been married over twenty years and found each other at the most unlikely time. They are parents, grandparents, great grand-parents and both are HIV positive.
Felix was a recovering addict when he was diagnosed. His doctor gave him one year to live. He moved to Detroit to be closer to his family and became a substance abuse counselor and was a facilitator for the Detroit Health Department. Recently retired he worked as an HIV and substance abuse counselors for over 30 years in three states. He not only continues to thrive but outlived the doctor who gave him that diagnosis of one year to live.
Paula was infected by a long-term partner. After his death, she found herself not only HIV positive but also depressed and contemplating suicide. As fate would have it, while going through his belongings she found a card for a HIV support group. The facilitator happened to be Felix Sirls. In the program, she learned to love herself again and regain her self-esteem.
When the program lost its funding, Felix found a new home to continue the support group. Paula followed him to Full Truth Fellowship of Christ Church and volunteered with the program. No longer counselor and client, a relationship developed and a deep love grew that continues to this day.
Not only did they marry and blend families but they blended their passions for music, poetry and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS. They now work with “Gospel Against AIDS” whose mission is to equip houses of worship with HIV education, dispel myths and to eliminate the stigma associated with people living HIV. They also provide testing at various sites, teach prevention and share their story of love and thriving with HIV.
They say “HIV is a get in you not a get on you virus. If a person doesn’t have HIV they don’t need to get it. Persons who do have it, can live with it.”
We continue the celebration of LGBTQ Pride with an introduction of an amazing activist couple. Hannah Hartley and Diane Schulz are planning their June wedding. Both also serve on the board of the Gender-Identity Network Alliance (GNA). The purpose GNA is to create positive social change supporting all forms of gender identity and expression through charitable, educational, and service works. who identify as trans, transgender, gender non-conforming, gender-variant, or those in the process of reassigning their gender. GNA hosts, Annual Spring and Winter Potlucks , a weekly support group, the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance each November, and on June 24, 2017 the Transgender Day Of Empowerment at Affirmations Center in Ferndale, MI.
Hannah is an accomplished musician and composer. Before moving to Michigan, she lived in Cleveland, OH and Los Angeles, CA where she owned a creative agency and recording studio. Upon moving to Michigan, she continued her marketing wizardry by joining Green Path Financial Wellness as Digital Marketing Manager and webmaster. Her fiance Diane Schulz serves on the board of GNA as Secretary. She studied criminal justice at Michigan State University which led to a 30-year career in law enforcement. During her career, she was a police officer, a sergeant, a lieutenant and participated in union leadership for her fellow officers. Since her retirement she has been in private practice as an investigator.
Hannah and Diane join Collections by Michelle Brown to share their individual stories, their journey as a couple and how in the midst of all of this they remain committed to the vision and mission of GNA and its work for Michigan’s transgender, gender non-conforming, and gender-variant community
Raised on Detroit’s west side, Marseille always saw community service as a part of life, an example set by her parents who were both youth missionaries. So, it was no surprise to friends and family when she selected Wellesley College in Massachusetts after graduating with its belief that every woman can—and should—make a meaningful contribution to her world.
After graduating she served as the assistant to the Majority Counsel for the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee under the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. After September 11th, she followed her supervisor to the Center for Community Change, and then later relocated to Korea to teach English. Upon her return to the United States, she served as a truancy officer until joining the Michigan Department of Corrections.
In 2013 while supervising US military Veterans on Felony probation, she co-founded the Oakland County Combat Veterans Treatment Court, one of two combat-only courts in the country. Later she founded the Warriors Trust Fund a nonprofit agency developed to provide support, guidance and financial assistance for participants in the Oakland County Combat Veterans Treatment Court.Marseille moved to Flint, Michigan at what some might consider the worst possible time, shortly before the news of the Flint water crisis broke. She did not cut and run instead she started delivering water to help residents, she also entered and won $10,000 in a GoFundMe contest for her cause. Beyond the headlines, Marseille not only continues to serve the people of Flint but is committed to being there for the long haul as the effects of lead poising will go on long after the pipes are replaced and the water is flowing. It will affect families for generations.
Besides talking about Flint, Marseille will share how attending an all-women’s college, Wellesley, its philosophy and continued support has shaped her life and work
For many the LGBT community in Metro Detroit is centered in Ferndale, Michigan. It has been the home of Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center since 1989. For many years, the city was the home of Motor City Pride before it moved to Detroit in 2011, and continues to host Ferndale Pride each June. The city, located just north of Detroit, is recognized for its diversity and inclusion, cozy neighborhoods and burgeoning business district. At the helm of “Fabulous Ferndale” is our guest Mayor Dave Coulter. Raised on the east side of Detroit, he broke with tradition moving west & settling in Ferndale. He was elected to the Oakland County Commission and served four terms on the Commission. Coulter was appointed Mayor of Ferndale in January 2011 after his predecessor resigned. He was then elected to the two-year position in November 2011. He was re-elected in 2013 and 2015. He is Ferndale’s second openly gay Mayor. He has worked as a civil engineering draftsman and school teacher. He served as the executive director of the Michigan AIDS Fund and a program officer for the Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation. Ferndale’s mayor only works Part-time and shares executive roles with the city manager. Besides being mayor, a politician, an openly gay man, Coulter is an activist concerned with the rights and issues affecting all. In 2013, Coulter, along with Congressman Sander Levin, undertook a challenge in which they spent less than $4.50 a day on food. They did so to protest cuts to food stamps. In 2014, he became the first mayor in Michigan to perform same-sex marriages.Coulter believes “You can be a progressive city that’s also focused on the bottom line.” That’s Ferndale normal! Learn more about “Ferndale Normal” as envisioned by its Mayor, Dave Coulter, on Thursday June 1, 2017 at 7PM
IMAM DAAYIEE ABDULLAH is said to be one of three openly gay Imams in the world. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he credits his parents with encouraging him and giving him the freedom to find his own spiritual path. His parents supported him and his to find religion despite their personal Southern Baptist beliefs. When he was 8 years old, he visited a Synagogue, a Hindu temple, and an assortment of Christian denominations. He continued to search for a religion he could put his faith into and converted to Islam at age 30.He lectures nationally and internationally on progressive Muslim concepts, intra-faith and interfaith networking, and the development of inclusive and progressive revisions of Islamic theological thought and Islamic law. He actively promotes understanding and awareness of issues of racial, gender and sexual equality as understood in the UN Declaration of Human Rights within and beyond Muslim communities.
He is Executive Director of MECCA Institute (Muslim Education Center for Creative Academics), a Muslim think tank and online Islamic theological school, teaching an inclusive liberation theology and interpretation of Quran. At Light of Reform Mosque, Imam Daayiee provides pastoral counseling for Muslim youth, adults, their families and friends. As former Director of LGBTQ Outreach for MPV, he produced a 14-part module on LGBTQ Muslim youth, their friends, family and community, funded by Carpenter, which was released in May 2014. On his 45 years of activism for LGBTQ rights and as a member of the faith community, he says “What I continuously hold on to is the ever-changing experience of the human story. We are still in process – the process of becoming more fully human with dignity, acceptance and respect – and we must remember that when good people do nothing the worst of atrocities can occur.”
Lupus is more pervasive and severe than people think, and has a devastating impact that the public doesn't realize. In fact, research shows that a staggering two-thirds of the public knows little or nothing about lupus. You can help change that. May is Lupus Awareness Month. Joining Collections by Michelle Brown is the founder of Lupus Detroit, Sharon Harris. Ms. Harris not only lives with Lupus but thrives and provides support an encouragement for others living with this chronic autoimmune disease, living with both systemic and discoid lupus, Harris founded Lupus Detroit to not only provide emotional support but to also assist Lupus Warriors with daily challenges including paying for medicine, rent and other financial expenses. Lupus Detroit is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a gala celebration on May 20, 2017. Despite suffering, two strokes in 2016, Sharon Harris continues to work to help others not just survive bit to thrive and celebrate their lives.
Roz Gould Keith is a marketing professional, an educator and an activist. She is an amazing friend, a life-long learner and believer in community. But first and foremost, she is about family. She is a dedicated wife, mother, sister and aunt. As the mother of a transgender son, Roz has embraced the opportunity to be an ally and supporter of the LGBTQ community. Utilizing her 30+ year background in marketing and a fierce love for her son, Roz has gone above and beyond in serving transgender youth and their families.Gould Keith is the founder and board president of "Stand WIth Trans;" the creator of "Ally MOms;" co-fecilitator of a parent support group; planner of numerous community education events; and a speaker always ready and willing to share her knowledge and experience. As Roz and her son, along with the rest of their loving family and friends navigate this journey, they are dedicated to continuing to spread awareness and ultimately, gain acceptance regarding what it means to be trans.
Due to technical ifficulties we are rebroadcasting today's earlier broadcast with our special guest Harriet Hancock.
At 80 years young, Harriet Hancock, affectionately known as the mother of South Carolina Pride, is as passionate about standing for LGBTQ rights today as she was when her son came out to her in 1980. Mrs. Hancock is a retired attorney in Columbia, South Carolina. She is the proud mother of three. She started the Columbia, SC chapter of PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) in 1982 - the first in the state. She is co-founder of Palmetto Aids Life Support ervices of SouthCarolina in 1985 and a co-founder of the South Carolina Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement (SCGLPM) in 1990. She was instrumental in acquiring the Harriet Hancock Center in 1994 and currently serves as vice president of the Harriet Hancock Center Foundation. The Harriet Hancock LGBT Center was originally founded by the Board of the South Carolina Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement (now known as the SC Pride Movement). It was purchased in 1994 and paid off 10 years later. As part of the anniversary celebration for the South Carolina Gay & Lesbian Pride Movement (SC Pride) a banquet was held on April 15, 2005. At that event, the Center was named in honor of longtime activist and co-founder of both SC Pride & the Center, Harriet Hancock. Located in the heart of Columbia, the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center is the hub of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activity in the Midlands of South Carolina.
Harriet Hancock is a 1984 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina and received her law degree in 1988. She retired from the practice of law in 2013. She is the mother of two daughters and one son.
For three decades, this octogenarian has been a force for social and cultural change in South Carolina. She is a tireless advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in South Carolina and their families. LGBT people in the south have often faced an indifferent if not hostile climate. Harriet is a steadfast advocate and volunteer, working to change that climate.
Upon learning that her son was gay in 1980, she started the first chapter of Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in South Carolina (PFLAG) in 1982. She is a co-founder of the Palmetto Aids Life Support Services of South Carolina (PALSS), the first grass roots organization in SC to provide services for those with HIV/AIDS and their families. She was instrumental in organizing the first pride march in SC in 1990. She was invited to a White House reception in June of 2011 where she met President Obama. In South Carolina she is commonly known as the "Mother of Pride". The South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement (SCGLPM) honored her in 2005 by naming the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center in Columbia in her honor.
Cheryl Gilliam has more than 35 years of professional experience in the medical and food industries working for companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Heinz USA, Sara Lee Bakery, Kraft Foods and currently, for “Tony the Tiger” at Kellogg’s in the Legal and Compliance department. She currently serves as Board Secretary on the West Michigan LGBT & Allies Chamber of Commerce and is a founding Board Member of the organization. She also serves on the Board of Directors as Vice President for OutFront Kalamazoo and is a member of the Michigan State University Athletics Council and MSU Varsity S Club Board of Directors as immediate Past President. While at MSU, she won a total of 13 individual Big Ten Championships and also earned All American honors. In 1980, she finished 7th in the 200m finals at U.S. Olympic Trials and competed in Europe as a member of the Muhammad Ali Track Club.In 2014, she was awarded the top award at W. K. Kellogg K Values Award for Kellogg North America for Diversity and Inclusion and in 2015 she was award the W. K. Kellogg Global Value Awards representing KNA. She was also the recipient of the 2015 World Packaging Organization (WPO) WordStar Award for Packaging, presented in Milan, Italy. In 2016, she and her team was awarded the William K. Kellogg K Values Award for Diversity and Inclusion for the #SpiritDay project.Ms. Gilliam champions senior and youth programs. She enjoys volunteering with youth anti bully programs and youth mentoring programs that help young people achieve their aspirations.
The 6th Annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference and Awards Gala will take place in Dallas, TX from April 24-30, 2017.
BTMI Founder and Director, Carter Brown, will be talking about the theme and conference activities on “Collections by Michelle Brown” on Thursday April 20th.
Co-convened by Black Transmen, Inc., Black Transwomen, Inc. and the Black Trans International Pageantry System organizations, the conference addresses key ssues faced by the black trans community as a result of discrimination including, but not limited to, inequities in income, education, employment, housing, health, legal justice and interfaith support.
The theme for this year’s conference is L.O.T.U.S. “Loving Ourselves Through Ultimate Service.” All are welcome at BTAC. There is NO FEE FOR THE CONFERENCE however tickets must be purchased for the GALA. Visit www.blacktrans.org for all the details, to register for the conference and. get event tickets
“The Feminist Wire” called her a “Feminist we Love! But the world knows J. Bob Alotta as the Executive Director at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a global foundation based in NYC that provides critical resources to LGBTQI organizations and individuals around the world. Bob is a lifelong activist and an accomplished filmmaker with a track record of leading exponential organizational growth and capacity building through visionary management and fundraising. She builds strong partnerships with diverse communities, grantee partners, donors, institutional funders, and corporate stakeholders. For two decades Bob has worked diligently to bring the margins to the center. She is a friend and comrade to many across the globe. She is also one of the many radical-feminist-queer individuals who walks the talk of intersectionality as an artist, activist, and philanthropist. Alotta was one of 50 speakers in January, 2017 at the Women's March on Washington rally in Washington, D.C. In a nutshell she’s a globetrotting, LGBTQI, feminist, community building, filmmaking bad ass building community and leading a new wave of activist/philanthropist across the country and the world.
Natasha “T” Miller is a three-time Women of the World Poetry Slam finalist. She has been part of four national slam teams. In 2010, she starred in a national Sprite commercial, and started her publishing company “All I Wanna Say Publishing.” Since then, she has published two books: “Dreams of a Beginner,” and “Coming Out of Nowhere,” a social networking memoir about homosexuality, religion and cyber bullying. Natasha has been on three national tours, and performed at renowned venues all across the country. Natasha believes her purpose is to create change and peace like so many great leaders before her.
Miller is also the force behind The Artists Inn, a Bed & Breakfast, and farm to table restaurant, located in the east village neighborhood of Detroit, catering to community, and artists
T. Miller is also marketing, communications, ad personality for SHINOLA, a detroit based business commited to building a modern and quintessentially American consumer products brand through the reintroduction of domestic manufacturing at a scale that can shape culture, create community, and deliver goods of the highest quality that are built to last.
March 31-April 2, 2017 Chicago’s Coalition for Justice & Respect will host the 5th Annaul Bolder Than Out Conference. The theme of this year’s conference is “No Regrets!” Joining Collections by Michelle Brown is the conference convener Marc Loveless.
Marc Loveless is an appointed Commissioner of the Cook County Commission of Social Innovation. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Chicago Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) -- the national association of enterprising nonprofits and social-purpose businesses. Currently a Student of Social Enterprise at Roosevelt University and member of the grassroots leadership team that passed the Quality of Life Scratch-off Lottery Ticket. This act created in Illinois a new stream of funding for HIV/AIDS. This is the first of funding stream of its kind in the country. He is the Founding Executive Director of the Coalition for Justice and Respect, a African-American Same Gender Loving Black Lesbian and Gay social justice and civil rights organization in Chicago. A Student of Social Enterprise at Roosevelt University, Marc is a recipient of the Trailblazer award from Father's Who Care and the Hope and Spirit Award from Chicago Department of Public Health.
Marc is the Principle Consultant of Loveless Consulting a social marketing firm specializing in public policy, civil rights and social justice. He was a founding member of Black Health Alert (BHA) - a watchdog organization created to raise public and political awareness to advocate for social justice in Black Communities. He is the organizer of the Critical Caucus a coalition of Black LGBT Chicago organizations and has recently been selected as the Co-Chair of the Chicago Black LGBT Leadership Council.
Currently he is working on a book project on healthy living for Black Gay Same Gender Loving Men living in America.
Janice Fialka, LMSW, ACSW is a nationally-recognized lecturer, author, and advocate on issues related to disability, parent-professional partnerships, inclusion, raising a child with disabilities, sibling issues, and post-secondary education. She is the Special Projects Trainer with Michigan’s Early On® Training and Technical Assistance (Part C of IDEA). Janice is also a parent, poet, a compelling storyteller, and an award-winning advocate for families and persons with disabilities.
In 2009, Janice and her family were honored with the "Life Time Achievement Award" by Family Voices for their advocacy in disability. She was named Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) – Michigan Chapter in 2007.
Janice conducts workshops for schools, human service organizations, and parent and advocacy groups. In her primary keynote address and trainings, The Dance of Partnership: Why do my feet hurt? Strengthening the Parent-Professional Partnership she reflects with sensitivity, humor, and compassion on the challenges and possibilities facing parents and professionals as they seek to build successful working relationships on behalf of children with disabilities. Janice speaks from both her unique vantage point as the mother of a child with an intellectual disability and as an experienced social worker of 40 years. Janice has an engaging ability to teach, empower, and stir hearts and minds.
She will be talking about her new book "What Matters:Reflections on Disability, Community & Love", her families journey in advocating for her son's rights in the disabilty community and the dance maintaining balance with family, advocacy and activism.
Joining Collections byMichelle S. Johnson. Michelle S. Johnson is a public scholar in the fields of African American history, literature and cultural production and has taught in Liberal Studies and African American Studies at Grand Valley State University, American Thought and Culture and History at Michigan State University and English at Saginaw Valley State University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Johnson holds a B.A. in Humanities from Michigan State University and a PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan.
She was one of the co-founders and Executive Directors of Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative. Under her leadership, this Kalamazoo arts and cultural non-profit came to serve as the go-to organization for emerging artists and cultural producers. As a professor, Johnson developed her identity as a public scholar in cultural studies and created programs and classroom environments that provided significant academic skills while retaining and encouraging students to think critically and creatively. During her work as the Freedom Trail coordinator for the State of Michigan, Johnson solidified her public scholarship and leadership and expanded her contribution to assist professional and lay-historians in the preservation, documentation and promotion of Underground Railroad histories.
As DJ Disobedience She has been a popular DJ on Kalamazoo’s WIDR 89.1 FM Radio since 2006.
Too much of trans-history has gone unrecorded and untold but our guest Andrea Jenkins is capturing this precious treasure. Andrea Jenkins is the Trans Oral Historian for the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota. The Project will empower individuals to tell their story, while providing students, historians, and the public with a more rich foundation of primary source material about the transgender community. Jenkins has already interviewed over 125 members of the Transgender community ranging in age from 18 to 85.
She is also and most notably a playwright, curator, visual artist, poet, writer, spoken word artist, performer, and trans-activist. Her work is concerned with the interplay of words, mediums and genres that can be mashed together to create a new narrative. She views her work as collage, working primarily with paper and mixed media as a visual form of curation. Taking various images that have been artfully produced for the purpose of consumerism and mixing them with social justice messages and images brings attention to the issues of inequality.
ANDREA JENKINS has more than 25 years of public service experience as a Minneapolis City Council policy aide, nonprofit executive director and consultant, and Hennepin County employment specialist and is currently a candidate for City Council in Minneapolis Ward 8.
In 2016, the murders of 27 transgender people were reported, making it the deadliest year on record for Transgender people. By February 27, 2017 five deaths had been reported two in New Orleans within days of each other. Statistics show the average life expectancy for Black transgender women is 35 years. Trans-genius, talent, lives and stories gone too soon.
Join us for this intimate conversation with Mama Activist Danielle Atkinson. Atkinson is the founding director of Mothering Justice, a statewide organization working to improve the lives of families in Michigan by equipping the next generation of mother activists. She received her Bachelor Degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Pfeiffer University where she helped organizer students for peace in the early days for Iraq War. She worked as a field director for the campaign to increase the minimum wage in Florida successfully winning a raise for one half a million Floridians. In 2005 Danielle relocated to Lansing, Michigan to become the executive director of GLADE a multi congregational coalition. From 2006-2012 Danielle worked throughout Michigan forming coalitions that included representation from labor unions, youth, women’ and civil rights organization to increase voter participation among underrepresented voters with both America Votes and Michigan Voice. In 2012 she combined her experience as an organizer and mother to create Mothering Justice. To date the organizations has trained over 200 women, reached over 12,000 likely mothers in a direct contact voter engagement plan, led several mama conversations around Michigan and formed the Mamas’ agenda, a policy priority plan addressing financial stability issues of mothers in Michigan. Ms. Atkinson’s work on organizing mothers won her the 2013 Michigan organization of the year award
Join us for this intimate conversation with Mama Activist Danielle Atkinson. Atkinson is the founding director of Mothering Justice, a statewide organization working to improve the lives of families in Michigan by equipping the next generation of mother activists. She received her Bachelor Degrees in Political Science and Sociology from Pfeiffer University where she helped organizer students for peace in the early days for Iraq War. She worked as a field director for the campaign to increase the minimum wage in Florida successfully winning a raise for one half a million Floridians. In 2005 Danielle relocated to Lansing, Michigan to become the executive director of GLADE a multi congregational coalition. From 2006-2012 Danielle worked throughout Michigan forming coalitions that included representation from labor unions, youth, women’ and civil rights organization to increase voter participation among underrepresented voters with both America Votes and Michigan Voice. In 2012 she combined her experience as an organizer and mother to create Mothering Justice. To date the organizations has trained over 200 women, reached over 12,000 likely mothers in a direct contact voter engagement plan, led several mama conversations around Michigan and formed the Mamas’ agenda, a policy priority plan addressing financial stability issues of mothers in Michigan. Ms. Atkinson’s work on organizing mothers won her the 2013 Michigan organization of the year award
Collections By Michelle Brown sits down with Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame Inductee Kim L. Hunt. She has a 30-year career that spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors with a focus on advocacy and nonprofit management. She is currently the executive director of Pride Action Tank (PAT), a social justice lab devoted to improving outcomes for LGBTQ communities through a collaborative process of inquiry, advocacy, and action. PAT is a project of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, where Ms. Hunt also serves as an advocacy advisor. She is a co-host of a monthly LGBTQ storytelling event, the political columnist for FOP Magazine and has taught numerous workshops and mini-courses over her career. Ms. Hunt is also a recent inductee into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame.
An intimate conversation with LaWayne Childrey Author, Journalist, HIV Advocate, Inspirational Speaker. A native of Birmingham, Alabama. His autobiography, Peeling Back the Layers: A Story of Trauma, Grace and Triumph, was selected as one of the top six autobiographies of 2015 by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Childrey is also a recipient of the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Journalistic Excellence. In addition, Childrey has won numerous Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters awards for his reporting with Mississippi Public Broadcasting, a statewide affiliate of National Public Radio. In 2014 the Alabama Community College System selected Childrey as its most outstanding alumnus in the institution’s 50-year history. The ACCS awarded a $5,000 scholarship in Childrey’s name to a deserving Alabama high school senior. . "This book is therapy for anyone who needs it, and a re-affirmation for all that hope is never lost." - Joel Eisenberg "This memoir is one of the most candid that I've read" - Writer's Digest
Beginning with the Women's March January 21, activist have taken to the streets on a weekly and sometimes daily basis standing in solidarity for rights, liberties and values the hold dear. Joining Collections by Michelle Brown host are organizers, speakers and participants in these marches. They will share their motivation, experiences and hopes for the future as a result of these actions and for the future of democracy.
Scheduled guests took place in activities nationally and at statewide levels and cross all boundaries of age, race, religion, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation. Phone lines will also be opened for other marchers to call in and share their experiences.